


The Hunted

by sarahkwut



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018) RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Family, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Reunions, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:22:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 122,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahkwut/pseuds/sarahkwut
Summary: It's been 50 years since the Eldritch Terrors were defeated. Sabrina Spellman thought she was finally going to get to have a peaceful life with her boyfriend, Nicholas Scratch. But he broke her heart - again - and she found her way back to Harvey Kinkle. Except it wasn't happily ever after. Now that he's gone and Nicholas has returned to Greendale, she has a second chance. But will she take it?Meanwhile, her deceased husband left this world with a parting gift. He's revealed her family's secret to a a deadly band of Witch Hunters dedicated to ridding the world of evil in the name of God. Sabrina has to face that her marriage wasn't what she thought it was, what she wanted to be - and that Nicholas Scratch had a life without her - while her coven comes together to fight for their existence once more.(Post Part 4 - but written pre-Part 4!)
Relationships: Nicholas Scratch/Sabrina Spellman
Comments: 280
Kudos: 224





	1. In Death

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a long, but important, author's note.
> 
> This fic is dark. It's mature. It will deal with emotional abuse and the desire to be a mother. It's set 50 years in the future (and as CAOS is set a few decades back, it will bring them up to present day, hence some of the technology references you will see in the chapters ahead) and Sabrina in particular will at times be out of character as she reckons with the cards life and her own choices have dealt her. 
> 
> Basically, I want you to know it's a mature and sometimes darker fic. Personally, it's my favorite one I've written and I hope you'll enjoy it. It's also got a smaller cast of characters - the Spellmans, Nicholas, and later, Prudence. You'll learn the fate of the Fright Club members pretty early on. 
> 
> I wrote this one several months ago, but ended up posting Wicked Winds first. This fic was completed as a post Part 4 fic, but with my own imagined ending to Part 4. And given the characters' current statuses, I think its obviously based on how I hoped Part 4 would end. :) I plan to stick to my Monday and Friday posting schedule. 
> 
> Okay, enough rambling. 
> 
> Time to share 'The Hunted.'

Sabrina Spellman studied the tissue as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. It was damp with her tears, shredding to pieces in her hands, but she clutched it all the same. She didn’t quite hear what was happening around her, too buried in her own thoughts and conflicted feelings of grief, but she was aware of the sniffling, the occasional blowing of noses, the brief cry of a baby, followed by the hushing of its mother.

Ambrose nudged her gently. She glanced at him. He offered her a fresh tissue. She accepted with a small, watery smile. She dabbed at her eyes, saw the makeup left on the crisp tissue, and damned the mascara brand for telling a lie – it most certainly was not waterproof.

Another nudge came from Ambrose. It was time for her to stand. She got to her feet, her legs shaky, and walked slowly to the mahogany casket. Her hand trembled as she placed the single white rose atop it. She left her hand there for a moment, bowed her head, and breathed deep. She didn’t pray – she wasn’t exactly the praying type – but she still sent out a wish of peace upon the dearly departed.

Others came behind her, all with a single rose, all adding them somberly to the top of the expensive box. She stepped aside, stood next to the priest, accepted more condolences, more well-wishes. It was all she had done for days now, and she was eager for it to simply stop. Her eyes scanned the crowd, noting the familiar faces lingering, mentally tracing their connection to her, to her deceased husband.

Her eyes fell upon a man she didn’t recognize. Her brow furrowed. She had never seen him before. She was certain he wasn’t from Greendale. Still, there was something familiar about him. Her thoughts were pulled from him as another mourner approached her, but she kept him in her peripheral vision. He didn’t come closer, hovering on the perimeter, observing the scene. He was dressed sharp, his suit tailored and expensive, his salt-and-pepper hair coiffed. Whoever he was, he was of finer breeding than the locals.

His eyes flickered towards her. They caught hers for just a moment, but it was enough. It was his eyes that were familiar to her, although something about their light golden-brown coloring seemed off. She felt it then, that old and long dormant stirring, the inkling of a mystery, of magic. Something within her shifted. The sadness that had consumed her for so long moved aside enough to let the first hint of an ember she hadn’t felt in far too many years spark.

She kept the man in her field of sight as the crowd thinned, everyone heading to the Spellman Mortuary for a post-funeral reception. He drifted a bit, never coming closer, but he didn’t leave, didn’t cease his observation of the dwindling crowd of graveside mourners. When she was sure she could step away without drawing attention, she started for him.

She was smart, however. Her instincts told her not to make a beeline for him, to come at him in a roundabout way. She leaned into those instincts, more than she had in a long while, and gradually made her way to the stranger. He caught onto her when she was still several yards away. He turned and began to walk away, his gait measured so as not to draw attention to himself from the small crowd that remained, but still with purpose. Sabrina wasn’t deterred. She followed him, feeling like she had a purpose for the first time in ages. He stepped into the safety of the woods, her on his heels.

“Stop,” she ordered in a voice that was so strong and confident it took her by surprise. The man stopped but didn’t turn to her. She drew herself to her full height and set her shoulders. “Who are you?”

A beat passed. The man turned, slowly, and again she thought there was something familiar yet off about his eyes.

“I’m an old friend of the deceased,” he said in a gravelly smoker’s voice. “I came to pay my respects. I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Kinkle.”

“Spellman,” Sabrina corrected automatically. Her suspicions heightened. “Who are you?”

“An old friend,” he said again. “I’ll be on my way…”

The Latin tumbled from her without thought, the words foreign in every sense of the word. The figure before her melted away. His skin smoothed out, deepened in color. The salt-and-pepper hair shifted to a head of black curls. His golden-brown eyes deepened into dark pools she hadn’t seen in fifty years. A soft gasp escaped her.

“Nicholas!”

“Sabrina,” he nodded once, the timbre of his voice a hair deeper than it had been five decades earlier.

For a moment, she was struck dumb. He was fifty years older, but still looked like the teenage warlock she had known in a time that felt like far more than a half century ago. If there were any differences, it was that his jawline was, somehow, more pronounced. Still, there was something more mature about him, even if it wasn’t physical.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her voice surprised her again, this time because of how quiet it was.

“I owe Harvey my life,” he reminded her. “It was only right that I pay my respects.” He took her in. She looked like her, but aged, the glamor she wore an accurate depiction of what a mortal Sabrina Spellman, aged sixty-seven, would look like. He briefly considered turning the tables, using the same spell she had to reveal her true self. But he didn’t. He let her keep her protection. “I really am sorry for your loss, Sabrina.” She could only nod, still trying to comprehend that he was there. “I should be going.” He gave her the slightest of half smiles. “It was good to see you.”

He made to leave.

“Nicholas…”

He turned back to her because he had never been able to deny her. She just stood there, not sure what to say, his name having tumbled from her lips as easy yet as foreign as the Latin had. He raised an eyebrow, prompting her. She opened her mouth to say – something. Anything.

“Well, well, well.” An aging man with dark skin and cropped gray hair appeared at Sabrina’s side, his eyes appraising Nick. He wore a bright orange pocket square and a maroon scarf tied fashionably around his neck. Neither item matched his somber suit. “Nicholas Scratch, in the flesh.”

“Ambrose,” Nick said with a polite nod, sure it was his old not-quite-friend. The way he stood at Sabrina’s side gave him away. The eclectic wardrobe choices confirmed it. “I was just on my way…”

“Don’t hurry off,” Ambrose replied. “Everyone is gathering at the mortuary for a reception. Hilda has cooked up a feast – although if anyone asks, it’s courtesy of our live-in maid, Helen.”

Nick understood. Hilda, too, would be wearing a glamor. He imagined Zelda was as well, that the locals believed the aloof women to be long gone from this plane. He was fairly certain he knew which of the two older women they were, gathered in the row behind Sabrina and Ambrose. One of them had openly cried. The other had looked bored.

“I should get going,” he said. “Despite the circumstances, it was good to see you both.”

He turned and walked away, purposeful in his resistance to look back. He felt their eyes on him.

“Sabrina,” Ambrose’s voice drifted, “you should go back to the mortuary. People will wonder where you are.”

“I know…” Nick heard her hesitation but kept walking. He considered teleporting on the spot, but he couldn’t help but linger in Greendale for a few more moments.

“Go on,” Ambrose encouraged. “I’ll herd the stragglers back and speak with the graveyard attendant to make sure everything is settled. I’ll be at the mortuary soon.”

Nick kept walking, the distance between him and the Spellmans growing with each step, but he couldn’t help but be surprised that Sabrina didn’t put up more of a fight. Compliant wasn’t a word he associated with her. She walked away, leaving Ambrose in her wake. Nick picked up his pace. He stopped suddenly, as though he had hit a wall. He huffed.

“Dammit, Ambrose.”

He turned back to the warlock. He was himself now, the glamor gone. He hadn’t changed either, save for his hair being a fraction longer.

“You didn’t think I was going to let you escape that easily, did you?” Ambrose asked.

“A warlock can hope,” Nick grumbled. Ambrose appraised him with a knowing sort of smirk.

“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you, Scratch.”

“Like I told Sabrina, Harvey risked his life for me. Paying my respects was the right thing to do.”

“Right,” Ambrose nodded. “There’s some truth to that, I suppose.” He tilted his head as he considered Nick. “My aunt Zelda has been trying to get in touch with you for some time now.”

“She has,” Nick nodded once. “She knows my stance on her request.”

“You should speak with her before you disappear again,” Ambrose pushed. “She won’t be happy to know you appeared in Greendale and didn’t stop by for a visit with your High Priestess.”

“I didn’t come here with the intention of staying,” Nick reminded him. “Speaking with you and Sabrina is already more than I meant to do. And Zelda isn’t my High Priestess. I haven’t been part of a coven for a long time.”

“Have a drink with me at Dorian’s, at least,” Ambrose continued. “Alcoholic or non, I don’t care. Two old friends such as ourselves should catch up.”

“You and I were never friends, Ambrose.”

“Perhaps not,” Ambrose nodded. “But we weren’t enemies, were we? Besides, we both know friendship and loyalty aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Ambrose saw it, the curiosity brewing in Nicholas Scratch. He was certain the last thing the warlock wanted to do was leave Greendale again. Already, his determination to teleport away from the sleepy town was wavering.

“You have a reception to get to, Ambrose,” Nick said.

“I’ll meet you at Dorian’s in two hours,” Ambrose replied, leaving Nick no room to protest. He uttered a Latin phrase in a bored sort of way. His features aged before Nick’s eyes. “Should be one of the last times I have to don this Hecate-forsaken look. Can’t say I’m sorry to be rid of it.” He nodded once at Nick. “Two hours. See you there.”

He disappeared.

* * *

“Nicholas Scratch.”

“Dorian Gray.”

Nick slid onto his usual barstool – or at least, it had been his usual one, some fifty years ago.

“I had a feeling you would show up here sooner rather than later.” Dorian produced a tumbler from under the bar and poured a healthy amount of bourbon into it. “Your usual.”

“You remember.”

Nick gladly accepted the glass. If there was ever a day in which he needed a drink, it was today.

“I remember everything.” Dorian’s words were full of implications, as they always were. He had a gift for saying both everything and nothing at all at once. “Besides, you were one of my best customers. Sales certainly slumped a bit with your departure. Although it was easier to keep the bourbon and absinthe supplies full.”

Nick cringed a bit, thinking about those days in Greendale, the number of times he sat at this very bar in this very seat and drowned his sorrows.

“Don’t get too excited,” he said. “I’m only passing through.”

“And I’m on death’s doorstep,” Dorian called Nick’s bluff.

“I’m not sticking around,” Nick insisted. “I’ll have a drink or two and be on my way.”

“A likely story.”

Dorian drifted away, leaving Nick to drink in peace.

He was disciplined now in his ability to control his thoughts, to keep them from dark corners of his mind where painful memories lay dormant and the only thing that would numb him were substances designed to take him away from his pain. It was harder now that he was in Greendale where those memories took place, to stay disciplined, to push them back, to stay his course, but he could drink bourbon without incident, enjoy it the way a connoisseur might. Alcohol had never been the problem.

He had never intended to be seen by Sabrina, let alone talk to her, at least that’s what he told himself. Harvey Kinkle had risked his life to save him from Hell, then put himself in harm’s way to help save the coven, and it was only right to show up at his funeral to pay his respects. He had thought his glamour was good, that he had disguised himself far past recognizable. He didn’t think Sabrina had known it was him – she was too surprised when she removed the glamour and found him beneath it – but it had been obvious enough to make her suspect something. She was still whip smart it seemed, despite something seeming – off – about her.

He focused on his bourbon, on the artwork around the room. He made himself recount the details behind each piece. The artist, the style, the story it told. In some cases, the portal it hid. Anything to keep his thoughts controlled. Dorian didn’t speak when he circled around to refill his glass and for that, Nick was grateful. He was analyzing a tapestry when Ambrose sidled up beside him.

“How many in are you?” he asked Nick while signaling Dorian for a bourbon of his own.

“This is my second,” Nick answered.

Ambrose picked up the drink Dorian placed before him and slammed it back. He made a face as the liquid burned his throat and rotated his hand indicating Dorian should re-fill it. He met Nick’s raised eyebrow with one of his own.

“I’m catching up,” he said simply. “Besides, it’s been a heaven of a few days, all this funeral planning and glamour wearing. I’m glad it’s all behind us.”

“That’s not something someone grieving his pseudo brother-in-law’s passing would say,” Nick noted. Ambrose and Sabrina had always been more like siblings than cousins in Nick’s opinion. Ambrose considered him for a moment.

“I’ll speak freely,” he decided. “Seeing as you’re leaving Greendale shortly and all.”

“I am leaving,” Nick said with a certain stubbornness. “As soon as we’re done here.”

“Sure,” Ambrose nodded once. He took a sip of bourbon for dramatic effect. “As I said earlier, Scratch, friendship and loyalty aren’t one in the same. My dearly departed pseudo brother-in-law – I like that term by the way – never had either of those things from me. My cousin, of course, has them in spades, which offered him certain, shall we call them, protections? Now that he’s dead, I can stop toeing this ridiculously narrow line Sabrina has had us all on for five damned decades.”

“Your family has sacrificed a lot for Sabrina,” Nick recognized.

“We have,” Ambrose confirmed. He considered Nick again. “Yet still not as much as others.”

Nick said nothing. He had made his choices. He wasn’t sure he would make them again, if given a do-over, but there was no changing the past. There was something he was curious about, however. Try as he may to keep himself out of all things Greendale related – he rarely even set foot on the North American continent, so intent on keeping his distance from the town and its inhabitants that had made his life a literal living hell – he couldn’t not ask.

“I suppose it was the cancer that killed Kinkle?”

“It was,” Ambrose nodded. “Lung cancer, horrible, drawn out death. Ironic, really, that the mortal never smoked a day in his life, but I suppose it was the mines that got him in the end.”

“But – Sabrina… She’s a witch.”

Ambrose heard the implications. He also saw his opportunity.

“Sabrina hasn’t performed magic in fifty years.”

He wished he could take a photo and frame it of the shock that colored Nicholas Scratch’s features.

“But…”

“Other than the glamours – which she had to do, because there was no way she could continue to look like the fresh-faced young witch she is while married to a man that aged quite rapidly, even by mortal standards – she hasn’t so much as unlocked a door with magic in a half-century.”

“But – why?”” Nick wondered. It was blasphemy, the idea of Sabrina Spellman, the greatest witch he had ever known, letting her magic go dormant. Any witch could have saved their ailing mortal husband with magic. Sabrina was so powerful she could have saved him with a mere thought. Ambrose fixed him with a serious expression.

“Why do you think?”

Nick sighed.

“Kinkle.”

“Kinkle,” Ambrose answered. He downed the rest of his bourbon. Nick did the same. They both signaled for another. “Forty years of marriage, fifty plus of knowing she’s a witch, and he never accepted her magic, not really.”

Nick could only take another swig of bourbon as the fact that Sabrina Spellman was no longer doing magic sunk in.

“She did magic today,” he said after a long stretch of silence. “She unveiled my glamour.”

He had Ambrose’s full attention.

“She did, did she?” He lifted the bourbon to his lips, eyes still on Nick. “Interesting.”

Nick wanted to sit with this bit of information, this surprising insight into who Sabrina Spellman had grown into. That luxury wasn’t afforded to him, however.

“Nicholas Scratch.”

Nick glared at Ambrose, aware that he was responsible for the intruder.

“I can’t lie to the High Priestess, can I?” Ambrose shrugged. “Besides, she was nearing a catastrophic meltdown if one more person called her Esmerelda and asked how her journey to Greendale was. I had to do something to head her off.”

“I’ll never wear that damned glamour again now that Kinkle is gone,” Zelda Spellman declared. Nick turned to face her. She was as imposing as ever, perhaps even more so now that she had fully embraced her place as the head of the Church of Hecate. “Now, Brother Scratch, I do believe you and I have some catching up to do.”

“I…”

“Save it,” Ambrose cut him off. “The only person here who seems to know you aren’t going anywhere is you, Scratch. Do us all a favor and come to that realization so we can skip all of this unnecessary back and forth about you just passing through and get to the matters that actually matter.”

“I would have been long gone if Sabrina hadn’t removed my glamour,” he reminded Ambrose.

“Sabrina did magic?” Zelda asked, her purpose momentarily forgotten.

“Seems that way,” Ambrose nodded. Nick wished he fully understood what was going on as he observed the meaningful look traded between the pair.

“Interesting,” Zelda said, just as Ambrose had, her eyes on Nick now in an appraising sort of way. “But I’ll have to put a pin in that bit of news. Come, Brother Scratch.”

She turned on her heel and walked away. Nick didn’t move.

“I’d follow her,” Ambrose prompted. “You’re talking to her, whether you want to or not, so you might as well do so under your own power and hold onto your dignity.”

Nick huffed out a breath and figured Ambrose was right. Zelda would have her time with him one way or another. As he stood, he wondered how he had been sucked right back into the Spellmans’ games, mere minutes into what was supposed to be the briefest of undetected visits to Greendale. He followed Zelda into a private room off the main area of the bar. When the door shut behind him, he knew he wasn’t leaving until Zelda was finished with him.

“You have been avoiding me, Scratch.”

“I haven’t,” Nick shook his head. “I responded to each of your communications, didn’t I?”

“I don’t consider a one sentence decline of my offer a response,” Zelda volleyed. “I could perhaps understand your reluctance previously, even if I didn’t agree with it, but now? Well, my dear boy, there is nothing stopping you.”

“I have my reasons,” Nick said anyway.

“You had a reason,” Zelda corrected. “That reason has been lowered into the ground and is having dirt thrown on top of him as we speak.”

Nick was baffled by both Ambrose and Zelda’s nonchalant attitude regarding Harvey Kinkle’s death. He was certain there was more to the story and he damned himself to Heaven for being curious about what it was. He shouldn’t care. Not anymore.

“The Academy of Unseen Arts needs you, Mr. Scratch,” Zelda continued, sensing he was ebbing on his desire to exit Greendale. “Your knowledge, your skills – all are needed within our walls. There are young witches and warlocks who will benefit immensely from you. And dare I say it, your presence would be a draw to those outside our coven and we do certainly need to boost our numbers.”

“I’m flattered by the offer,” Nick said. “Really, Sister Spellman. I just don’t think…”

“You are myth as much as legend in our world, Brother Scratch,” Zelda reminded him. “And frankly, I’m sick of the members of this coven not living up to their Hecate-given potential.” She pierced him with a look so fierce he didn’t dare look away. “You don’t want to leave Greendale, Brother Scratch. We both know it. So don’t. Take me up on my offer. Join the Academy. Let the rest of it fall however it may.” She tilted her head to the side a bit. “Put yourself first. For once.”

There was no use in pretending anymore. She had called him out, just as easily as Ambrose had. His intentions had always been to leave but his personal desires had always – always – been to stay. This was his chance, his opportunity. Perhaps it _was_ time he put himself first.

“Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll do it. But the moment something goes wrong, I’m gone.”

Zelda’s smile was smug.

“That’s settled, then. When you’re done here, head over to the Academy. I’ve told Hilda to prepare your quarters. I’m sure you will find them well-appointed. Classes begin a week from Monday. Use this time to plan your syllabi accordingly.”

She waved her hand, opening the door to indicate he was free to go. Nick held his ground.

“You’ll warn Sabrina,” he told Zelda. “I don’t want her blindsided by this.”

Zelda’s smug smile curled upward.

“My niece did magic for the first time in half a century today, Brother Scratch. I daresay she’s already been blindsided.”

She walked out of the room, leaving Nick to stay or go.

Nick remained for a few moments, collecting himself, hardly able to believe he had just agreed to something Zelda had been needling him about for the last fifteen years. Still, his instincts told him he had made the right call. It was time. With a single nod to himself, he headed back into the bar. Ambrose was where he had left him.

“Looks like congratulations are in order.” He held his glass up to Nick.

“Here, here!” Dorian echoed. They clicked glasses and downed their bourbon. Nick sat down and threw back his own glass.

“I don’t know what the Heaven I’ve agreed to,” he admitted once the burn wore off.

“Well, Brother Scratch, I believe you have agreed to teach demonology, conjuring, and binding at the Academy of Unseen Arts for one Zelda Spellman, High Priestess of the Church of Hecate,” Dorian said.

“Dorian, old friend,” Ambrose looked positively giddy, “I do believe things have finally livened up in Greendale.”

“About bloody time,” Dorian replied. “It was getting rather stale around here.”

The pair clinked their empty glasses again in celebration. Nick pushed his empty glass towards Dorian. He most certainly was going to need another drink. Because Ambrose was right about one thing.

Life had suddenly become a lot more interesting.

Or complicated, as it were.

Those two things generally went hand-in-hand when a Spellman was involved.

He had learned that the hard way.


	2. Level Set

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually post on Mondays and Fridays, but I honestly have no idea what day it is as I drive across the country. I'm blown away by the response to the first chapter and will get around to replying to all of you this week - thank you so much for reading!

Sabrina trailed her fingertips over the linens of her freshly made bed. The mourners were finally gone, her house now returned to her, her glamour gone too, perhaps for good. She didn’t especially like the thing. It wasn’t ideal, to look in the mirror and see a much older version of herself reflected back so often. It was a constant reminder that her life was not as it seemed, that she wasn’t living life as herself. Never mind the hassle of having to remember to do the spell, to make sure it looked exactly right each time, that it slowly progressed as she supposedly aged like a mortal would.

But she had done what was needed. And what had been needed was for her to disguise her true identity outside of the walls of her home. It was a damned shame she had to disguise it on the inside of those walls, too.

She turned in place, taking in the room, observing how everything was largely as it had been fifty years ago, back when she was a teenager and the room was her sanctuary. Those weren’t easy times, but they were, perhaps, not the hardest either. Not any longer. Now, with time between her and then, she thought her teenage years may well have been the best of her life, even if a lot of it was spent saving the world over and over again.

The house felt both empty and, for the first time in a long time, a little more like home. Really and truly home. She felt horrible for thinking as much, but it was the truth. With Harvey gone, the old house felt as though it had returned to her, like it had exhaled the breath it had held for the better part of fifty years and filled its lungs with fresh, hopeful air. She felt similar.

She had known since the day she said yes to Harvey’s proposal that this day would come, the day when she was alone, her mortal husband gone from this plane. She had known for the last few months that it would come sooner than expected. She had expected the sadness. What she hadn’t expected was the crippling conflict within her soul, the tug between grief and relief.

“All settled?”

Hilda bustled in with a tray of tea and biscuits.

“Yes, thank you, Auntie.” She perched gingerly on her bed and smoothed a hand over the quilt. It was freshly laundered and no longer in style, but she loved it all the same. “Thank you for helping me move my things back in here.”

“Of course, dear,” Hilda said kindly. “I understand not wanting to sleep in that room.”

That room where Harvey had died.

The master bedroom that he had insisted they call theirs when he moved into the mortuary with her more than forty years ago. She had wanted to stay in her room, to rearrange it, perhaps pick out new furniture together, paint the walls, replace the posters with photos of them, their friends, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He swore they needed “their” bedroom instead of “hers,” that they needed to have a “fresh slate” to start their marriage, and she had given in.

She always knew the real reason he had hated her bedroom.

She lost her virginity to Nicholas Scratch in that room. _Everything_ had happened in that – this – room. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she remembered both Harvey and some of the things that had happened within this room’s walls, both with him and with others.

“It’s kind of nice to be back here,” she admitted.

“For now,” Hilda reminded her gently.

“I know,” Sabrina nodded. She couldn’t to stay at the mortuary much longer. With Harvey gone, there was no way she could keep up her farce as an aging mortal and remain in her family home for years to come. There was no need to. Everyone else had moved on and the house would be there, waiting for them in a century or so to return to it. “But it’s home for a bit longer.”

“This place will always be home,” Hilda said gently. She perched next to Sabrina. “Want to talk about anything, dear?”

Sabrina sighed a long breath. If she could be honest with anyone, it was Hilda.

“Is it wrong of me to feel relief?” she asked. “I loved Harvey. I will always love him. But it’s been so hard…” She trailed off, on the brink of tears.

“You’re relieved Harvey is free of pain,” Hilda soothed. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, love. I know watching him waste away was awful for you, but he’s in a better place now.”

An uncomfortable silence passed between them. Hilda had meant her words as comfort, but they had been more like salt in Sabrina’s wounds. Harvey had found his faith and been baptized into the Catholic Church in his last years of life. It had been a constant rub between them, especially as the days ticked down on his life. For all her mortal behavior, she had held onto at least some of her witch upbringing and refused to have any part of his religion.

“It’s more than that,” Sabrina admitted. “I’m relieved I don’t have to hide anymore.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I know that makes me selfish.”

Hilda enveloped her in a tight hug. At 67, Sabrina was still a young witch. She had done infinitely hard things in her life, but she was still, as far as Hilda was concerned, a young adult in many ways. The last half century had worn on all of them. She wouldn’t confess to Sabrina right then that she, too, felt relief with Harvey’s passing. She wouldn’t miss her alter ego of Helen, their friendly and faithful maid. She did have a fond spot in her heart for the young Harvey she had first met, but she didn’t much care for the man he grew into, another thing she opted not to share with Sabrina right then. Still, she understood where Sabrina was coming from.

“You are the least selfish person I know,” Hilda assured her. “You were a good wife, Sabrina. You can rest easy in that.”

“Was I a good wife?” she wondered. “I didn’t feel that way at the end.”

“You did lovely,” Hilda reaffirmed. “We will get through this, just like we have gotten through everything else life has thrown at us.”

Life had been relatively peaceful in the fifty years since the Eldritch Terrors tried to destroy them, but Hilda always thought they were owed that, given how wild and unpredictable life had been in Sabrina’s sixteenth and seventeenth years. Sabrina gently pulled away from Hilda’s embrace and wiped at her eyes. There was something else on her mind she wanted to talk to someone about and as Ambrose had disappeared to who knew where, Hilda was her best bet.

“I saw Nicholas Scratch today.”

Hilda pretended to look surprised. The news that Sabrina would be seeing a lot more of Nicholas Scratch hadn’t reached her niece yet and she thought Zelda should be the one to share it. It was Zelda that insisted on bringing him back after all.

“Nicholas Scratch? Here? In Greendale?”

“He came to Harvey’s funeral,” Sabrina reported. “He wore a glamour. I don’t think he intended to be revealed. He said he came to pay his respects, given that Harvey helped save him from Hell all those years ago. I think they had an odd sort of pseudo friendship at one point, too.”

“I suppose that’s kind of him,” Hilda said diplomatically. She had mixed feelings about Zelda’s intentions for the warlock. She supposed it was good, that a warlock of his caliber was joining the Academy’s staff. But she was concerned about what the news would do to the girl sitting beside her. There were some wounds that ran deep. “There is lavender tea for you. And those butter biscuits you like.”

“Thank you,” Sabrina managed a small smile. “You have done so much for us, Hilda… For me…”

“None of that,” Hilda shook her head. “We’re family. This is what we do.”

Sabrina squeezed Hilda’s hand. She knew she had asked far too much of her family, especially in recent years. Hilda in particular had been by her side through the worst of it. She opened her mouth to offer more in the way of gratitude, but the moment was interrupted by the arrival of Zelda.

“Looks like you’re all settled,” she commented as she surveyed Sabrina’s room. “Everything freshly uncovered and dusted, new linens on the bed. Minus that old quilt you love.”

“I’m settled,” Sabrina nodded. “Thank you.”

“There was another rather large flower arrangement left on the porch,” she continued. “I placed it with the others. This one was from the ‘boys from the mines.’”

The only person in the room who worked harder at not rolling her eyes than Zelda was Sabrina. She hated the mines, hated everything to do with them. She couldn’t believe they were still in operation, given that they housed the gates of Hell, let alone the catastrophes that had happened there over the years. As Harvey’s widow, she owned them now though, and she would determine what happened to them. She predicted there would be a mine collapse – minus any miners trapped inside – in the near future.

Zelda considered her nice.

“I hear you and Ambrose crossed paths with Nicholas Scratch today.”

“Briefly,” Sabrina nodded. “He’s long gone by now.”

“I spoke with Mr. Scratch myself,” Zelda informed her. Sabrina looked surprised. “He has taken me up on an offer of a position at the Academy of Unseen Arts, despite his initial determination to leave town.”

Hilda pursed her lips, awaiting Sabrina’s reaction.

“He’s going to teach at the Academy,” Sabrina repeated slowly.

“He is,” Zelda nodded once. “He is a welcomed addition to our staff. His quarters have been appointed at the Academy. I’m sure he will find Father Blackwood’s previous living arrangements more than sufficient, given the time and efforts to polish away the stain the man left upon the Academy.”

“He will be a wonderful teacher,” Sabrina said diplomatically. She couldn’t think about the fact that Nicholas Scratch was back in Greendale. Not right now, not in front of her aunts. It had been an emotionally exhausting day between Harvey’s funeral and coping with the stream of people that had flooded through the mortuary afterward to pay their respects and eat Hilda’s food. Processing her ex-boyfriend’s return would have to wait. She stood and looked from Hilda to Zelda and back again. “I’m going to take a bath, if you don’t mind. It’s been a long day.”

“Seems like an appropriate way to return to your old room,” Zelda approved.

“Let us know if you need anything,” Hilda added.

The aunts left Sabrina’s room. The sound of running water trickled out to them as they made their way downstairs. They were in the sitting room before either of them spoke again.

“Really, Zelda, do you think bringing Nicholas back here was a good idea?” Hilda wondered. “Right now? Harvey is only just fresh in the ground…”

“Brother Scratch is needed at the Academy,” Zelda said in her way that said she wasn’t to be argued with. “I have to think of what this coven needs, and it needs a warlock of his caliber. As I told him, everything else will fall as it will.”

“Sabrina is raw, emotional…”

“Sabrina did magic today,” Zelda cut her off. Hilda looked stunned. “She unveiled the glamour Nicholas wore to the funeral.”

“She did magic…,” Hilda wondered.

“I’m doing the right thing,” Zelda said with certainty. “He will be an asset to this coven. As for Sabrina, well, that’s up to her, isn’t it?”

“I suppose,” Hilda fretted.

“We stay out of it,” Zelda warned her sister. “Nicholas is here to teach. Whatever else transpires is up to them. We stay out of it from here on out.”

Hilda pursed her lips and nodded.

Except Zelda had already mettled.

She had brought Nicholas Scratch back to Greendale.

And she had done it for Sabrina, no matter what her sister said.

* * *

Forty-eight hours of being back in the Academy, and in some ways, Nick felt like he had never left. He had been surprised to find Blackwood’s former quarters awaiting him and entered them with trepidation until he found they had been completely overhauled in the last fifty years. Not even a hint of the former High Priest remained. It was comfortable, well-appointed. It was easily the nicest place he had slept in a while.

So far, he had figured out a few things.

First, the library had remained largely untouched. A few paintings had changed, and the furniture had been swapped out at some point, but the important part – the books –remained. It felt like the room had been waiting for him when he walked through its vast wooden doors. Even the sanctum felt welcoming, despite the thick layer of dust that covered its works. There had been no need to access its restricted material in a long time. He had cleared the dust away and spent nearly two hours there the previous day, just sitting, reading book titles, letting the cogs in his mind grease themselves as they started to turn after so long of remaining dormant, at least in the space of academia.

Perhaps it would be good for him, he reasoned, the return to the Academy, the task of using his mind and sharing the vast amount of knowledge that floated around in his brain. He had certainly used his intelligence over the years, but not like this. Not for teaching conjuring, binding, and demonology. He found he was looking forward to flexing his metaphorical muscle again.

Next, he had discovered Zelda Spellman had her own luxury quarters. She had renovated a wing of the school and she and Hilda lived there. There was a rumor that two more Spellmans would be moving into the space in the coming weeks, but he didn’t dwell on that for now. He had certainly been surprised by Hilda’s neutral welcome upon his arrival, not rude exactly, but also not overly kind as he had become accustomed to. He wanted to think she had changed over the years, that that was simply her way now, but he was fairly certain her greeting had more to do with him than her newfound shortness.

Finally, he realized he truly had no idea what he was getting into. He hadn’t seen this place, these people, in fifty years. Despite the familiarity of the Academy, he didn’t know it nor these people anymore. That thought drove him to the office Ambrose had claimed as his, although Nick had no clue as to what his job actually entailed. The door was open, so Nick didn’t bother with knocking. He walked in and stood before Ambrose’s desk.

“There he is,” Ambrose greeted, not looking up from whatever he was writing. “How are you adjusting to your new accommodations, Scratch?”

“Nothing to complain about,” Nick stated. “But I need you to level set for me.”

Ambrose looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“Level set?” he repeated. “There’s a fancy corporate America phrase.” Nick saw the intrigue in the warlock’s eyes.

“I wouldn’t know much about corporate America, but I do know I know very little about what’s been going on around here,” he said. “I need you to give me a summary of what I’m walking into.”

Ambrose read between the lines.

“You want to know where my family stands.”

“I feel like a sitting duck,” Nick confessed. “I’ve been gone for fifty years. A Heaven of a lot has changed in that time, no matter how much this place looks the same.”

“Have a seat, my dear Scratch.” Ambrose leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. “I had a feeling this conversation was coming.”

“That’s another thing,” Nick said as he took a seat. “I’ve been here two days and I’m already tired of you telling me what I’m going to do before I do it. Did you develop telepathic abilities during these last five decades?”

“No more than the average warlock,” Ambrose shrugged. “But in some instances, you’re not that hard to read.” Nick glared. Ambrose grinned. “Let’s start with the easiest of the Spellmans to explain and work our way down the totem pole, shall we?”

“Let’s hear it,” Nick nodded.

“We are, of course, talking about me.” Ambrose spread his arms wide in a theatrical manner. Nick rolled his eyes. Another thing that hadn’t changed then. “I’ve spent much of the last fifty years doing whatever the Heaven I’ve wanted. I disappeared in Tibet for a dozen years, and that was brilliant. Bloody good times.” He smiled as he remembered the debauchery he got into. “Of course, Greendale has called me home a time or two, but I’ve only been here on a consistent basis for the last five years.”

“And what exactly is your job?” Nick asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

“I’m more or less Zelda’s henchman these days. Less diabolical than henchmen past, of course, but I do what’s needed. Unfortunately for me, a lot of what’s needed has been as entertaining as house arrest was. But here we are.”

“You seem bitter about the peace we’ve enjoyed.”

“Not bitter, bored.” Ambrose switched the cross of his legs. “Zelda is obviously living her best life, all High Priestess and such. Frankly I’d say she’s my favorite of the Spellmans right now. Don’t dare tell Hilda I said that, but at least Zelda has her act together and is doing something to continue to enrich our kind.” He fixed Nick with a look. “She’s been after you for a long time, Scratch. I’ve heard her rants about how you have rejected her.”

“She was persistent,” Nick nodded once. “I had other obligations before, but I’m here now.”

He left it at that. Ambrose shrugged a shoulder and continued. Whatever Nicholas had been up to wasn’t his business.

“You have likely noticed Prudence isn’t around.”

“I did wonder about her,” Nick admitted. “I lost touch with her a decade or so ago.”

“She’s off doing Hecate knows what, Hecate knows where. She will blow back into town sometime sooner or later – can’t really stay away, all things considered – but she got rather fed up with a Spellman I haven’t mentioned yet and so she took off again a couple of years ago.”

“I look forward to her return,” Nick said dryly.

“Hilda has been – Hilda. She’s perhaps a bit harder around the edges than she used to be, but she’s still her, still taking care of all of us and the students, too. She’s been a bit of an enabler, however, hence why she’s fallen down my list of favorite Spellmans. Sometimes she’s too kind, you know?”

Nick did know. He also had a feeling he knew who she enabled.

“And of course, that brings me to my current least favorite Spellman.” Ambrose dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward. “Sabrina.”

Nick’s stomach gave a nervous turn.

“Tell me,” he requested.

“Sabrina is not the girl you left behind.” Ambrose was blunt. “Once the dust settled, she understandably wanted some sense of normalcy in her life. But she lost herself along the way and now my cousin is someone I barely recognize. And I don’t mean the glamour she no longer has to wear.”

“She went through a lot, Ambrose,” Nick reminded him.

“No one is debating that,” Ambrose replied. “But it’s like she just – gave up. Embraced her mortal side. At first, that was fine. She needed it. But she’s embraced it so tightly now that I don’t know that her witch side will ever reappear.” Again, he pierced Nick with a certain look. “Except she did magic two days ago, for the first time in fifty years.”

“I had nothing to do with that,” Nick said with certainty. “She didn’t have any clue that it was me wearing that glamour.”

“Except she had enough of an inkling to suspect something. That was a big deal, Nicholas. Perhaps not to you, but to us? It was a crack of something in her mortal armor.”

“She went through a lot,” Nick said again. “Heaven, I put her through a lot and ultimately, it was the tip of the iceberg of what she went through. Of course she leaned into her mortal side once everything was behind her.”

“But she’s a full witch,” Ambrose reminded Nick.

Nick didn’t reply. It bothered him that Sabrina wasn’t using her power. But he had to remember that it wasn’t his place to interfere. He was in Greendale to teach, no more, no less. Another thought occurred to him, however.

“What did you mean at the funeral, when you said friendship and loyalty weren’t mutually exclusive?” he asked Ambrose.

Ambrose took his time answering.

“You may not realize it, Nicholas, but there are a number of people on your team.”

Nick’s brow furrowed.

“My team?”

“When it comes to the triangle that was you, Harvey, and Sabrina, there were very clear teams,” Ambrose explained. “Your team, by far, had the majority vote, you just didn’t win the election. Bit like this electoral college the mortals get so worked up about.” Nick snorted his amusement. “Frankly, you had all the Spellmans in your corner. Save for Hilda who wasn’t really on your bench or Harvey’s, although she did have quite the soft spot for the mortal. She’s been Team Sabrina all along, which, arguably, we all are, ultimately. All of this to say, you had a lot of support. And if I were you, I wouldn’t have left Greendale.”

“I had to leave,” Nick said. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Nobel as ever,” Ambrose commented. “You and I may have never been friends, Scratch, but we certainly weren’t enemies.”

“No,” Nick agreed. “I guess we weren’t.”

Ambrose had saved him from certain death on more than one occasion.

“You’re here now,” Ambrose said. “A lot of the – obstacles – that were once there are no longer in your way. And my cousin? She’s saved the world more than once.” He sat back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head. “It’s high time someone saves her.”

Nick heard the implications. He didn’t dare allow himself to dwell on them.

“Her husband just died,” he said. “She’s grieving.”

“She’s relieved,” Ambrose corrected. “And I don’t just mean in the ‘he’s not suffering anymore’ sense.” Nick didn’t know what to make of that statement. The Sabrina he knew would be devastated over Harvey’s death. She certainly looked the part of a heartbroken widow. Even a glamour couldn’t hide the pain in her eyes. “And now I have a question for you.”

“Shoot,” Nick replied with a flutter of nervousness. Ambrose had a way of seeing through a situation, of calling out someone on their intentions. Nick had a feeling something similar was about to happen to him.

“You say you attended Harvey’s funeral to pay your respects, given that he helped retrieve you from Hell.”

“It was the decent thing to do,” Nick nodded. He had worked hard to be a better man over the years. Attending the funeral of the man who helped rescue him and then later helped save his coven from the Eldritch Terrors was the right thing to do.

“Theo died some thirty years ago,” Ambrose continued. “Roz passed ten or so years ago. They both helped retrieve you from Hell, helped this coven. They both had funerals.”

Nick bit his lip. He had long ago committed to honesty. As much as he wanted to deny Ambrose’s implied accusation, he couldn’t.

“I attended their funerals,” he confessed. Ambrose sat back in his chair in that self-satisfied way of his that came out whenever he was right. “A different glamour each time, but I was there, in the back, at the gravesides. I couldn’t attend the church services for obvious reasons.”

“None of us could, save for Sabrina,” Ambrose agreed.

“I left the moment the service ended.”

“I’d be willing to bet those weren’t your only adventures into Greendale.”

Nick said nothing, but Ambrose heard his answer all the same.

“Loyalty indeed,” he mused.

Nick decided to make his departure before things got too close to the truth.

“Thank you for enlightening me.” He pushed out of his chair. “I’m going to get back to work. Turns out planning four different classes with a week’s notice is a bigger task than expected.”

He had somehow been roped into teaching history as well. Zelda was certainly packing on the demands now that he was under her employment. He didn’t mind – yet.

“We’re glad you’re here, Nicholas,” Ambrose said. He meant it.

“I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me,” Nick replied. He disappeared.

Ambrose picked up his pen and resumed his work, a smirk firmly in place. Nicholas Scratch wasn’t fooling anyone, except for maybe himself, with his ‘I’m here to teach’ line.

He was afforded a few minutes of peace before another figure appeared in his doorway. Unlike Scratch, she was subdued, seemed somehow smaller than she actually was – and she wasn’t all that big to begin with.

“Cousin,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Sabrina drifted into the office. “You busy?”

“Not particularly.” Ambrose dropped his pen again and once more sat back in his chair. “Popular, though. You just missed Nicholas.”

“Oh?” She sat down in the chair Nick had abandoned a few minutes earlier. It was still warm.

“He and I had a bit of an orientation session,” Ambrose said casually. “How can I help you?”

“I’m just wandering,” Sabrina admitted. “I’m bored.”

“You need a hobby,” Ambrose mused.

“Perhaps.” Sabrina looked around his office, taking in the details. She hadn’t spent much time at the Academy over the last several years, couldn’t recall if she had ever actually seen the inside of Ambrose’s office. It was eclectic, like him. “Do you need help with anything?”

“Not at the moment.” She would say no, but he would pitch the idea anyway. “Brother Scratch, however, seems to be a bit over his head with planning out syllabi for what has become four classes and less than a week before fall quarter begins.”

“And?” Sabrina prompted.

“And he could probably use some help.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t need my help. He knows more about conjuring and binding than I do at any rate.”

“Note that you didn’t mention demonology.”

Sabrina gave him a look. Ambrose relished it. It was so rare now, to get sass from her. It used to drive him crazy, how she always had a quick answer for everything, even when she knew she was wrong. He missed her smart mouth immensely now.

“I was just in Zelda and Hilda’s wing,” she changed topics. “I’ve chosen the room I want.”

“The suite furthest from the aunts?” Ambrose guessed.

“The attic suite was already taken,” Sabrina said pointedly. More sass. Ambrose felt hopeful.

“You know I love a good attic abode.” He picked up his pen and twirled it. “When do you plan to make your move?”

“Sooner rather than later,” she admitted. “I hate leaving the mortuary, but I know it’s time.” She was ready to get out of there, start to move on, whatever moving on looked like.

“It’s been time,” Ambrose muttered under his breath. If Sabrina heard him, she didn’t let on. “When you’re ready, I’ll help you move your things.”

“Thank you, Ambrose.” She tapped her fingers on the chair arm. Ambrose waited for whatever she was gearing up to say. “It’s weird,” she finally said. “Harvey was the last remaining tie to life as I knew it. Now… It feels like the world is vast and empty.”

“Or its yours for the taking,” he countered. “I do mean that metaphorically, of course. We have done enough taking and ending and resurrecting of worlds in our time and I’m not too keen to do it again.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Sabrina’s lips.

“I’ll figure it out,” she said. “My husband has been dead a week. No one expects me to have things figured out right now anyway.”

“I suppose not,” Ambrose agreed. He hoped she figured it out, whatever it was, soon. He decided to broach the topic no one in the family had brought up as of yet. It was always down to him to ask the hard questions, or to at least ask them before Zelda did so in a more abrupt manner than the situation called for and this was certainly a situation that required perhaps not kid gloves – he was tired of using kid gloves with Sabrina – but adolescent gloves at least. “You did magic the other day.”

Silence met his ears. Again, he waited.

“I don’t know what came over me,” she finally said as she avoided eye contact. “I just – knew the old man in the background wasn’t normal. I didn’t expect Nicholas though.”

“How do you feel about him being back?” Ambrose asked carefully.

“I don’t know,” Sabrina shrugged again. “I haven’t really thought about what him being back means with everything else going on.”

“May I suggest you consider why he came back in the first place?” Ambrose prompted. Sabrina shook her head.

“We’re not going there,” she said in her stubborn manner. “My husband just died…”

“Please tell me you don’t plan to play the part of mourning widow for the foreseeable future,” Ambrose said because he couldn’t help himself. “I have had fifty years of you playing mortal wife. I’m not sure I can handle another version of you playing mortal, particularly if this version is a moping sod.”

“My husband just died…”

“Well aware,” Ambrose nodded. “I was there, remember?” He had whispered with Zelda over the pros and cons of helping Harvey’s death along, but it had happened on its own in the end. He leaned forward. “You have a fresh canvas, Sabrina. Do you understand that? Do you see the opportunity before you? You get to exit stage right on this most recent act. You’re a young witch, not an aging childless widow. I’d like to see you act like it.”

A shadow crossed Sabrina’s face. Ambrose knew what triggered it, but he didn’t care. They had all spent too long tiptoeing around Sabrina and he was rather done with it.

“I think I’ll go find Hilda,” she stood. “I’m sure she has something I can help with.”

Ambrose waited until she was at the door to speak again.

“Sabrina.”

She stopped and looked at him. Again, he saw the faint hint of sass under the surface, begging to get out. Their short conversation as a whole was more of the her he knew and loved than he had seen in a long time.

“You set out for a happily ever after fifty years ago,” he said, speaking slowly so each word fell the way he wanted it to. “You didn’t get it. But that book has ended. You’re starting a new one. There is no reason you can’t have everything you have ever wanted this time around.”

Sabrina studied him for a long moment, as though mulling over her reply. Finally, she simply nodded and disappeared.

Ambrose blew out a breath and once more resumed his work.

He was putting a lot of hope in one Nicholas Scratch.

He hoped the warlock didn’t let him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of insight into Sabrina this chapter, as well as the Spellmans' hopes for Nick. Sabrina and Nick will interact next update! Also, Nick saying 'level set.' 😂 We're going to learn a lot about his last 50 years soon... 
> 
> Thoughts on this one? I love writing Sabrina like this, as someone who kind of "got what she wished for" in marrying Harvey, only to realize it wasn't at all what was right for her, nor what she wanted. But unlike many of us, and as Ambrose pointed out, she gets a do over...


	3. Moving Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten such interesting thoughts on Sabrina's behavior in this story so far and I love it. I think this update will help shed some light on what things have been like for her and how she ended up where she is.
> 
> Trigger warning - talk of emotional abuse below, as well as hints of mental illness. 
> 
> Remember, this is 50 years in the future post Eldritch Terrors and a much darker and mature fic...

Sabrina tapped her fingers absentmindedly as she waited for the kettle to boil. She had spent the day roaming around both the mortuary and the Academy, searching for something to do, something to fill her time, just as she had the last several days. At one point, she had thought about going into town, but then remembered she would need her glamour and that felt like too much work. It had been a week since she last wore it, a week since the funeral. She didn’t much feel like reconstructing it or answering the questions that would come her way by well-meaning community members who spotted the grieving widow out and about.

She was debating on whether to go back to the mortuary or stay put at the Academy once her tea was ready when Salem, perhaps the greatest constant in her life, meowed to alert her of approaching footsteps. She had just enough time to realize she still recognized them before Nicholas Scratch appeared.

“Oh!” He jumped in surprise. “Sabrina, sorry. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the kitchen at this hour.”

“Just having some late evening tea,” she replied.

It dawned on her that this was the first time she had spoken to him since his return to Greendale, Harvey’s funeral notwithstanding, and this is what they opened with – terrible, uncomfortable small talk. For him, it was the first time he had seen her without her glamour on. It was a bit surreal, to see the girl he remembered so well in front of him, this time in the flesh and not as a figment of his imagination. She was more beautiful than he remembered.

“I missed dinner,” he said. “Not intentionally. I got wrapped up in what I was doing, and my growling stomach alerted me to the time.”

“There are leftovers.” Sabrina nodded towards the fridge. “And plenty of other choices, should you want something different than the meatloaf Hilda served tonight.”

“Meatloaf will be fine.”

“I’ll make a plate for you…” Sabrina stood. Nick frowned. He didn’t need her to fix his plate, but she seemed to move to do so on autopilot.

“Have a seat, Sabrina,” he stated. “I’m perfectly capable of getting my own leftovers.”

He thought Sabrina looked both admonished and surprised as she sat back down on the stool in a heavy sort of manner. He busied himself with opening the massive fridge and finding the night’s leftovers. He kept glancing at Sabrina out of the corner of his eye however, noting how she slumped at the counter. She was – dull. The light she had always carried with her was gone. It pained him to see it snuffed out. “Want any of this while I’ve got it out?”

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. “Thank you.”

Formal. Stiff. Not Sabrina.

They didn’t speak again until the microwave dinged and Nick retrieved his plate.

“Mind if I eat at the counter?”

“Help yourself,” Sabrina nodded towards the empty stools across from her. Nick sat down just as the kettle whistled. She stood quickly. “Want some tea? There’s plenty of hot water for two cups.”

It was habit, making things for two. In the two weeks since Harvey took his last breath, she had found herself with more than she needed anytime she tried to cook something or make a pot of coffee or a cup of tea. She wondered how long it would last.

“I wouldn’t mind some tea if you’re offering,” Nick replied. He watched her go about pouring the water into two cups and adding tea bags. When she was placed his in front of him a few minutes later, he noted she had already added milk. Curious, he took a sip. It was sweet. “You remembered how I like my tea.”

It surprised him, that she remembered something so small after all this time.

“With more sugar and milk than is strictly necessary,” Sabrina nodded. “You always ruined your tea with all those add ins.”

He chuckled but said nothing further. He savored his first bite of Hilda’s meatloaf.

“If nothing else, the food here is excellent,” he commented.

“Hilda never lost her touch,” Sabrina agreed. She watched Nick for a moment and decided now was as good of a time as any to continue the small talk. She wasn’t leaving Greendale any time soon and it appeared he wasn’t either. She may as well get to know him again, be cordial. “So, what have you been doing these last fifty or so years?”

A safe topic, all things considered.

“A lot of traveling,” Nick said nonchalantly. “Picked up a few new hobbies, learned a few new things, enjoyed the advances in technology. The usual for a warlock with hundreds of years ahead of him.” He was curious about how she would answer the same question. “What about you?”

“Less traveling,” she said after a beat. “I suppose I became a pretty decent cook though.”

Nick thought she looked embarrassed by the answer.

“You have Hilda to learn from,” he said instead of questioning her further.

“I suppose so,” she agreed. “But I’m still nowhere near Hilda’s level.”

Nick took her in as he ate. Whatever was on her mind, it was heavy. She shifted under his steady gaze and avoided making eye contact. He had always been able to see through her, look at her in a way that made her feel bare. It seemed that hadn’t changed.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “With everything that’s happened the last couple of weeks?”

Sabrina was surprised by the question. It was direct. The Nick she had known as a teenager wasn’t so straightforward. He snaked around topics, tiptoed up to the actual ask of a question or request, sometimes from a fear of vulnerability, other times from a fear of the answer. This older Nick seemed so much more confident. Sure of himself. Wherever he had been, he had worked through the memories that weighed him down, the internal struggles he had faced. She found herself just a little curious about how he did it.

“I’m – okay.”

He smiled a bit out of pity.

Pity.

There was an emotion he never thought he would feel for Sabrina Spellman.

“You know, it’s okay to not be okay.”

Sabrina’s eyes caught his. He found them to be just as deep and full of emotion as ever despite how guarded she was.

“Bit of the pot calling the kettle black, aren’t you?” she countered.

“Perhaps,” Nick agreed, undeterred. “But I’ve hit rock bottom. Heaven, I laid there for a while. Doesn’t that make me qualified to call someone else out on it?”

“I guess so,” Sabrina admitted after another beat of silence. She thought briefly of going literally anywhere else, but she had nowhere else to go and while she didn’t want to talk about the last couple of weeks, let alone things from the past, she found she didn’t necessarily want to stop talking to Nick either. She opted to stay and change the subject to something safer. “How is the lesson planning going?”

“I’ve decided to take a fly by the seat of my pants approach,” he reported. “You can imagine how thrilled Zelda is with that plan.”

“You’re going to make it up as you go,” Sabrina deciphered. That felt more like the Nick she knew.

“More or less,” he shrugged. “I know what I’ll start with. Depending on how things go, I’ll adjust as needed.”

“So no lesson plans, no syllabus?”

“Like I said, Zelda is thrilled.”

A ghost of a smile played at Sabrina’s lips.

“She’s always liked you, you know,” she offered. She couldn’t say more. It would only remind her of how often Zelda had told her in those early days, even after Nick took off from Greendale, that she should have been with Nicholas, not Harvey.

“She likes that I’m an above average warlock,” Nick correctly stated. He took his dishes to the sink and used magic to clean them. “Finished with that cup?”

“Yeah, but I can get it…”

“I’m already over here.” Nick used another bit of magic to summon her cup to him. He made quick work of rinsing it out. “Anything new to do around here?” he wondered as he turned back to her and leaned on the counter.

“There are more stores,” Sabrina told him. “Another movie theater. A bowling alley. Things like that.”

“So no,” Nick deduced. “More of the same, but with more options. Just as well, I suppose. I guess I could walk around town relatively unnoticed – not like I was super friendly with the locals when I lived here last time – but it would probably be smart of me to wear a glamour, just in case someone did happen to recognize me from back in the day.”

“We’re pretty much confined to the Academy without glamours,” Sabrina confirmed.

“Not when you can teleport anywhere you want to go.” An odd look passed over Sabrina’s features. Nick noticed but didn’t comment. “I guess I’ll go to the library, see if I can find something I haven’t read yet.”

“Still read all the time?” Sabrina wondered.

“Some things never change, I guess,” Nick confirmed. “Goodnight, Sabrina.”

“Goodnight, Nick.”

Once he was gone, Sabrina blew out a long breath. She had both dreaded and looked forward to her first real conversation with Nicholas Scratch since his return. It hadn’t been terrible, not like she imagined it would be, even if it had felt a little stiff, a little formal. She hoped with time it would be less awkward.

She had nowhere to go, nowhere to be, so she stayed put, perched on the stool she had been on since before Nick appeared, thinking about nothing and everything. There was no denying that the room was far quieter without him.

Emptier, too.

Empty.

Like her.

* * *

Nick was practically skipping.

He loved teaching.

He thought he would.

This was his first time in an official teaching role, but he had certainly taught others a few things over the years when he took the time to think back on some of the things he had done and the places he had been. It almost pained him to give credit to Zelda Spellman for convincing him to take the job. Although he reasoned he was more manhandled into it in the end. Still, he loved it. After all these years, he thought he may well have found his calling. It had been a great first week and he was already looking forward to Monday.

He took a turn down the hall, bound for the stairwell that would lead him to the entrance, but he stopped short at the top of the stairs. There, in the entry, the heavy double doors wide open behind her, was Sabrina. She was struggling with several suitcases and duffel bags. A couple of boxes sat waiting in the floor and beyond her, Nick could see the Spellman’s hearse – how it still ran, he had no idea but he supposed magic was involved – with the doors open, packed with more bags and boxes.

“Need some help?”

He began to descend the stairs.

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. “I’ve got it.”

“Sure looks that way,” Nick observed. Sabrina glared at him. “Where are you going with all of that stuff?”

“My new quarters,” she informed him. “It’s time to move out of the mortuary.”

She had initially thought she would wait a little longer, but now three weeks after Harvey’s death, she was more than ready to be out of there, something she could have never seen for herself even a few years ago.

“So you’re – moving.”

“Obviously,” Sabrina snapped, her patience thin. It had taken her all morning to pack the bags and boxes she had with her and haul them through the mortuary and out to the hearse. Now she had to get them out of the hearse and to her suite – two stories up.

“Let me be clearer. You’re moving. The mortal way.”

“I’m moving the way one moves,” Sabrina informed him. “And I don’t have the time nor patience for you to stand there and offer unhelpful commentary.”

Nick said nothing. He continued to stand there for another couple of minutes, watching her huff and puff and try to load up her petite body with as many bags and suitcases as she could carry. She reminded him of one of the pack mules he had seen while hiking Machu Picchu as she took a couple of steps forward. She lost her balance and had to drop several bags to stop herself from falling.

“Dammit!” she shrieked. Nick could feel the frustration radiating off of her. He stayed where he was but muttered a short sentence under his breath. Her bags disappeared. She gasped. “What…” Her eyes fell on him. “Did you…”

“I couldn’t continue to watch that,” he stated. He finished descending the stairs and stopped when he could properly see the hearse. He repeated the spell and the hearse emptied. “You will find your things in your quarters. It’s still on you to unpack them, but at least you don’t have to haul them up to the third floor.”

“Thank you,” Sabrina said begrudgingly. “I may have, perhaps, bitten off more than I could chew.”

Nick refrained from reminding her it wasn’t the first time.

“Got anything else to move?” he wondered. “I don’t have anything pressing to do this afternoon. I’m happy to help.”

“It’s okay…”

“I was just going to go for a walk,” he continued, because that had been his plan – go out, get some fresh air after a successful Friday, see where the late afternoon sunshine led him. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

Sabrina wavered. She had started off determined to move herself, if for no other reason than to prove she could, but after hours spent struggling, huffing, and puffing, Nick’s help could make things go a lot faster. She looked at him and he raised his eyebrows in question.

“I mean, if you’re not busy…”

He fought back a smirk at how she made it seem like she was doing him a favor by agreeing.

“Like I said, I was just going to go for a walk.”

“Which times out well,” came Ambrose’s voice. He appeared from a side corridor. “I need the car and Sabrina has been hogging it all day. The pair of you can walk to the mortuary. Nicholas gets his walk, Sabrina gets moved, I get the car.” He grinned broadly. “Everyone wins!”

“I’m moving, Ambrose,” Sabrina reminded him. “I need the hearse…”

“No, you don’t,” Ambrose shook his head. “A metaphorical snap of the fingers and you’re all moved. I told you I would help you myself, but you simply couldn’t wait for me to finish up my duties here.”

“What do you need the hearse for anyway?” Sabrina challenged. “You hate driving that thing.”

“I have to go pick up a rather large order of baking supplies for Hilda at that restaurant warehouse a couple of towns away. Seems they would ask a lot of questions if I appeared out of thin air, said some Latin, and made the goods disappear, so per Hilda, I’m to do this the hard way, at least until I’m back here.” He gave them a salute. “Cheers! And thank you for getting me out of helping her, Nicholas. I owe you.”

With that, Ambrose was gone.

“He… But…” Sabrina sputtered, too annoyed to form a sentence.

“Shall we?” Nick asked, tilting his head towards the door. Sabrina sighed and nodded, thinking she might hate warlocks right then, particularly those related to her.

“Let’s go.”

They set off down the familiar path to the mortuary. They walked in silence at first, several feet between them. Separately, they each recalled the intimacy of the times they used to walk this same path, often hand-in-hand. It felt like a lifetime ago. Sabrina reminded herself that really, it was.

“So,” Sabrina began to break the quiet, “what’s it like being back in Greendale?”

“It’s good,” Nick shrugged. “Different. Not in a bad way, just – different.”

“Where were you before you came here?”

“Papua New Guinea,” Nick answered easily. Sabrina’s eyes widened. That was not the answer she expected. “Several tribes were in need of a doctor and it’s not the kind of place a lot of people brave. Which is stupid, because yeah, there’s some warring between a few of the tribes, but overall, they’re harmless people. They simply live a different kind of life, something I know a bit about, given what I am.”

“Doctor?” Sabrina asked. “You’re a doctor?”

“Technically,” he confirmed. “I needed something to do and school has always been easy for me. I did the whole medical school thing, residency, fellowship, all of it. It gets a little difficult to practice medicine in the same place when you’re not aging, however, so I’ve been traveling around to developing countries, offering medical care, learning about their customs. Some of them are rather open to witchcraft. Some of them, not so much. I’ve had to disappear under the cover of night a time or two, but I suppose it’s been a decent way to use my fancy degree.”

Sabrina looked stunned.

“You’ve been living as a traveling doctor,” she stated.

“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Nick agreed. “Like I said, it’s been a good way to learn about other cultures.”

“And now you’re teaching.”

“And now I’m teaching,” Nick repeated. “Between us? I like teaching a lot better.”

She spared him a small smile, but he felt her closing down. He wanted to press, to ask her what was on her mind, why talk about his status as the village doctor in places forgotten by time and resources made her clam up. He didn’t. It wasn’t his place anymore. Instead, he let silence fall between them and took in the scenery. The forest was bigger, fuller. It showed the fifty years that had passed by.

Next to him, Sabrina wrestled with how she felt about her newfound knowledge about what Nicholas Scratch had been up to. Part of her resented him. She knew she shouldn’t. He had every right to live his life. But that was where her resentment was founded. He had lived his life. She – well, she had made her choices. They both had. The other part of her recognized how unfair she was being. She knew Nick’s struggles better than most. The fact that he had left Greendale and done something with his life that he was proud of was monumental for him. She should be proud of him. And for the most part, she was.

The mortuary came into view. She used to feel a sense of relief when the imposing home appeared in her line of sight. It represented safety, home. Now, she felt… Well, resentment. It seemed she resented a lot these days. She wished she didn’t. That wasn’t her. But it had become her.

Nick flickered his eyes towards her, noting the furrow of her brow, the frown of her lips. Even though she still looked like the girl he left in Greendale, she somehow also looked so much older. Weary, even. It was as though she carried around something heavy only she could see or feel. He again fought against the instinct to ask her what was bothering her. He already felt like he was walking on eggshells. He had the sense of her being a ticking timebomb and it concerned him. He had witnessed more than one Sabrina Spellman implosion. No one was safe when it inevitably happened.

They approached the gate together. Nick tried not to think of any one of the many other times they had been at these gates, just them. He opened his mouth to ask her if there was anything else in the mortuary aside from her things that her aunts or Ambrose might want at the Academy, but something on the fencepost caught his eye. He drifted towards it.

“Nick?” Sabrina questioned as he veered off course.

“How long has this been here?” He motioned at the fencepost.

“I imagine they put the fence in not long after they built the house however many hundreds of years ago,” Sabrina stated. Nick shook his head.

“I’m not talking about the fence. I’m talking about the symbol burned into it.” Sabrina frowned.

“What symbol?”

“Look.” Nick used his finger to point out an intricate carving in the wood. “See it?”

“I’ve never seen that before.” She looked at him. “Should I know it?” He looked conflicted. She remembered that look. “What is it?” she demanded. “And don’t say nothing. Your eyes are darting around and you’re chewing on your cheek.” Nick released the skin from the clench of his teeth, wondering how she had been able to tell. “You do that when you know something that might not be good news.” She paused, remembering that it had been a long time since she had been around him. “At least – you used to.”

Nick sighed. It seemed it wasn’t just how he took his tea that she remembered.

“I wouldn’t panic,” he began.

“Great,” Sabrina huffed, sensing Nick was about to drop a bomb.

“But this symbol is representative of the Sons of Angels, a nomadic group of witch hunters. They are typically found in Europe – there are a Heaven of a lot more witches and warlocks roaming around that continent than there are here – but have been known to appear elsewhere. Just a couple of years ago, they decimated a coven in Egypt. I’ve never known them to cross the ocean to North America, however, not in recent decades anyway.”

“This symbol – is it like, their calling card?” she wondered.

“More or less,” Nick nodded. “But from what I know about them, they only leave the mark after they’ve killed, and I’ve seen all of the Spellmans in the last couple of hours.”

“Should we worry or should we not?” Sabrina asked bluntly.

“You’ve never noticed this here before?” Sabrina shook her head. “Then I’d say we don’t worry, but we don’t let our guard down, either.” He took out his iPhone – probably his favorite advance in technology over the last 50 years – and snapped a photo of it. “I’ll show this to Ambrose, get his thoughts. If it’s worth taking to Zelda, I will. But like I said, they don’t typically leave their symbol unless they have killed. I’d guess this has either been here for a while and no one noticed, or it’s some sort of bad practical joke. I’ve only been teaching for a couple of weeks, but some of the students at the Academy are clever – and ornery. They would do something like this.”

“Then I guess we don’t worry,” Sabrina surmised. She exhaled an uneasy breath. They had enjoyed decades of peace now. Surely nothing was coming along to shake it. She wanted to believe that, even if doubt pooled in the pit of her stomach. She glanced at the symbol again, memorizing it for her own purposes. “Let’s get the rest of my stuff and get back to the Academy.” She took a few steps towards the house, but Nick reached out a hand to stop her.

“Before we go in…” He took a few moments to cast a spell. A few more moments passed before he nodded. “All clear. Just thought it would be smarter to check.”

Sabrina gave him a nod, then led the way into the house.

Nick wasn’t prepared for the nostalgia that washed over him as he entered the Spellman mortuary. Some of the worst moments of his life had happened here. There had been times when he wanted to burn the place down. But some of the best moments of his life had also happened here. He tried not to remember them – neither the good nor the bad – and stayed focused on the task at hand as he followed Sabrina up the stairs.

Sabrina’s bedroom was another story entirely.

It looked exactly like it did back when. Even the furniture was the same. It was now sparser, most of her personal belongings now at the Academy, but the memories it still held were visceral. One look at her told him she felt them, too.

Both of them actively ignored addressing the obvious elephant in the room.

“What goes and what stays?” he asked, eager to get out of the room as fast as he could.

“Everything except the furniture,” she said. “I’m going to leave that here. It feels – young.”

It was anything but young. Sabrina Spellman’s antique furniture was worth thousands upon thousands of dollars at this point. But Nick understood all the same. It was a reminder of her younger life, of days so different from what she was living now.

“I just need to put a few more things in boxes… It won’t take long…”

It seemed he wasn’t the only one in a hurry to get out of there.

“Okay,” Nick agreed. “I’ll help.” She nodded and turned to finish packing up a bookshelf. Nick picked up a small empty box and wandered over to the vanity. He dropped a few trinkets in the box, then picked up a framed photo intended to do the same with it. He paused when he realized who was in it.

Theo.

Roz.

Harvey.

Sabrina sat in the middle of them, all four of them beaming at the camera. They were young, maybe not even out of high school yet, but he was certain it was taken after his time in Greendale. All of them looked happy.

“Robin took that,” came Sabrina’s soft voice. “It was our senior prom. Except none of us went. We hung out here at the mortuary instead. It felt right, after – everything.” A heavy pause followed as she took in the photo still in his hands. “They’re all gone now. Theo’s death was the hardest. A car accident. It was so sudden, so gruesome and unexpected.” Nick remained silent, allowing her to believe he was hearing all of this information for the first time. “Roz just – died. Peacefully, in her sleep. She went to bed one night and never woke up. The autopsy was inconclusive, but I think she simply decided she had lived enough. And, well, you know what happened to Harvey.”

“What about Robin?” Nick asked.

Sabrina shrugged a shoulder.

“He disappeared not long after Theo’s death. It was too hard for him to be here. He would send a letter or a postcard here and there, but more and more time passed between each one and they finally stopped coming.”

Nick again kept his thoughts to himself. He had always liked Robin, gotten along with him well enough. Robin, too, was an outsider in Sabrina’s group of mortal friends, never quite a part of it no matter his connection to Theo. During that brief time in which they had all been together, he and Robin had stuck together in a way, the odd men out. Wherever the hobgoblin was, Nick hoped he was well.

He offered her the photo, feeling like it was too personal to pack himself.

“It can go in the box,” she said, turning away from him.

Nick looked after her for a moment, then carefully put the photo in the box with the rest of her vanity items. It didn’t take the pair of them long to finish packing up her belongings.

“Is that everything?” he asked.

“Everything of importance,” she confirmed.

Nick said the same spell he had uttered earlier, and her things disappeared.

“They’ll be waiting in your quarters, along with everything from earlier.”

“Thank you,” Sabrina nodded. “I appreciate the help.”

“Even if you didn’t want it earlier?” Nick asked with a note of teasing.

“I thought moving myself was a good idea at the time,” she offered. She exhaled as she looked around. Despite all the furniture still in place, it felt incredibly empty. “I guess that’s that, then.”

“I’m going to head back to the Academy,” Nick said, sensing she might need a moment alone. “I don’t think the Sons of Angels symbol is anything to worry about, but may I suggest you be mindful of your surroundings on the return trip? Just to be safe? Teleport, even?”

“I know the way to the Academy well,” she said. “I’ll be fine.” She waited, expecting Nick to argue. Instead, he nodded, turned on his heel, and left the room.

Alone, Sabrina perched on the edge of her mattress and looked around the room that had once been her sanctuary.

In some ways, Nick had ruined that for her all those years ago. He had permeated every crevice of that bedroom, particular the bed. It wasn’t the intimate moments that served to haunt her though. It was the tender ones. The nights when she slept on his chest, the moments he stood in the middle of the room, his hands on her cheeks, and soothed her with his words. Even the night he came to her to beg forgiveness for betraying her to the Dark Lord, his desperation for her to give him another chance palpable. Neither of them had any idea of what would happen to him just hours later.

Her bedroom had become a sort of mausoleum once Harvey moved in and they claimed the master bedroom as theirs. It had rarely been accessed during those years, the door shut, her furniture covered, closing off a part of herself. She didn’t think anyone knew that she went there to gather herself when Harvey’s religious beliefs became too much to handle, to cry when Harvey’s diagnosis was deemed terminal, to simply be alone when she needed an escape.

Ambrose knew it was where she had fled after Harvey took his last breath. He had been the one to find her there. He had stayed with her, slept in her window seat after placing her on her bed once she cried herself to sleep.

Ambrose.

He had always been there, at least when it mattered. He was one of the few steady things in her life. The one who had been right all along, even if it pained her to admit it.

She wiped away a stray tear.

This bedroom was the last thing anchoring her to the life she had once known.

She stood and crossed the room. She took one last look at her childhood bedroom and felt something inside of her fall away. It didn’t feel like a loss though. It felt like something inside of her had been set free, like she was being released.

It felt – good.

She gave the room a final nod of goodbye and shut the door quietly behind her.

* * *

“Ambrose.”

Ambrose looked up from his ledger to find Nick standing in his doorway.

“Scratch,” he greeted. “My cousin all moved out?”

“She is,” Nick confirmed.

“As I said, I owe you,” Ambrose continued. “You got me out of helping her.”

“You can thank me later,” Nick said as he stepped into the office. “We have more pressing issues.” He held out his phone. “Recognize this?”

Ambrose leaned forward and peered at the photo filling Nick’s screen.

“That’s the symbol of the Sons of Angels.” He frowned. “Wait. Is that…” He took the phone from Nick and used his thumb and forefinger to zoom in. “That’s the mortuary.”

“So it is new,” Nick deciphered. He settled on one of Ambrose’s office chairs.

“I know for certain it wasn’t there two days ago,” Ambrose revealed. “Hilda had me out reinforcing the protections around the place now that we’ve all left it for the next however many decades. I walked that fence line a damned dozen times. I would have seen it. Looks like my timing was impeccable.” He shook his head. “But they don’t leave their symbol until they have killed, and we’re all present and accounted for. Never mind the fact that I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of them in North America.”

“It’s been two centuries since their last known appearance here,” Nick confirmed. “I looked it up before I came in here. Their last known work on this continent was the destruction of a coven in Asheville, North Carolina.”

“What does this mean?” Ambrose wondered. “Is it a warning?”

The sound of a group of students walking past reminded Nick of where they were.

“You owe me,” he reminded Ambrose. “Let’s go to Dorian’s, get a drink.”

Ambrose picked up on what he meant. They needed to talk somewhere they wouldn’t be overheard

“Lead the way.”

The pair hurried from Ambrose’s office. Within minutes, they were at Dorian’s.

“I was wondering,” Ambrose said as they sat down at a table in a back room where they would be guaranteed their privacy, drinks courtesy of Ambrose in hand, “the alcohol. When did that start again?”

Nick cringed at the time Ambrose was alluding to. It wasn’t his best memory, nor his finest hour.

“I got control over it,” he shared. “A few decades back. It was never really the alcohol anyway. It was the drugs.”

There had been times when he had had too much to drink and gotten mean – Sabrina had unfortunately been the victim of a few of those times – but he had long ago learned to control his intake while still enjoying the act of drinking bourbon or a beer. It had been the drugs that made him take things too far and those were very much a thing of the past. He was a social drinker now, nothing more.

“Just curious,” Ambrose said, satisfied. He could tell this older, more mature Nick was more together, more capable, more controlled. He could handle his bourbon. “Now, this symbol. What do you reckon?”

“If Sabrina asks? It has either been there for a while or some students from the Academy tried to play a bad practical joke.” Ambrose raised an eyebrow.

“She bought that?”

“She pretended to at least,” Nick said. “It felt wrong to tell her something evil might be lurking in the forest while she was saying goodbye to a home I know meant everything to her, but she’s too smart to think a few students carved it into the directrix’s fence as a joke.”

“As long as she doesn’t go traipsing about to find the answer herself,” Ambrose mused. He would have to check in with her later, make sure she hadn’t done just that. Even though he kind of hoped she had. It would be a sign of her coming back to herself. He fixed his eyes on Nick. “But I sense you have a theory.”

Nick took a long swig of his bourbon. He waited until the liquid had burned all the way down before he spoke again.

“It might sound farfetched,” he warned.

“All the better,” Ambrose approved. “And frankly, all the more likely to be true around here. It’s been far too quiet for far too long.”

“Harvey Kinkle was from a family of witch hunters, right?”

“Correct,” Ambrose confirmed. “He was the last of the Kinkle line, however. That particular breed of witch hunters died with him. Don’t dare tell Sabrina, but Zelda toasted to that fact the night he died. It was one of her many reasons for not approving of that particular union.”

“What if the Sons of Angels are connected to him?” Nick continued, ignoring the fact that Zelda Spellman had toasted to the mortal’s death. “I don’t know what that connection stems from – I don’t know how we would even begin to find the identities of the members of the Sons of Angels to see if they’re somehow related to the Kinkles – but it’s the only somewhat logical connection I can make.”

“I wouldn’t call it all that farfetched,” Ambrose mused. “The Kinkles were witch hunters. They went back generations. It makes sense that the Sons could be somehow connected.” He took a sip of his own drink, thinking. “Sabrina was his wife. The witch hunter married the witch. A betrayal in his own right. Kinkle never quite accepted Sabrina for who she is, despite his words that said otherwise, and then he found religion there at the end…”

“Wait, what?” Nick interrupted. “Kinkle found religion?”

“Oh he became quite the devout Catholic in his last years,” Ambrose informed Nick. “I expected Zelda to implode any time she glimpsed a rosary or a cross in her home. It was a substantial source of tension amongst the family.”

“The Sons of Angels fancy themselves as warriors of the False God,” Nick said. “Ridding the world of evil, so to speak.”

“Would it stand up to reason that their symbol was a warning?” Ambrose asked.

“I think so,” Nick agreed. “That worries me. Significantly. It means they’re out there, biding their time. They’re planning something and the Spellmans – likely Sabrina in particular if Harvey was a catholic – are the target. Not that they will stop at your family. Any one of us in this coven is in danger, simply for being a witch or warlock.”

“What do you reckon we do?” Ambrose wondered.

“We hope to Heaven we find them first,” Nick said. “How? I don’t know. But our first order of business is to protect the coven.”

“We’ll put extra protections around the Academy,” Ambrose agreed. “We’ll need to tell Zelda, too.” He considered Nick. “What about Sabrina? Do we tell her?”

Nick considered the question. He was torn down the middle. On one hand, it made sense to tell Sabrina. She needed to be able to protect herself. On the other hand, she wasn’t the witch he used to know. She was a shell of the brave girl he had left behind. He didn’t know if she could handle it.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “She needs to be able to protect herself, but she’s not doing magic…” He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. “Does she still wander the forest like she used to?”

“It’s one of the only things she still does that resembles anything she used to be,” Ambrose confirmed. “You’re right in being concerned about her not being able to protect herself. She’s capable. All of that magic, all of that power, is there, lying dormant. But she’s lost her will.” His jaw tightened as he thought of his cousin. He decided to put words to something he had only ever confided to Prudence and Zelda. “I hate him, Nicholas. I know he’s dead, but I utterly and entirely hate Harvey Kinkle.”

“He was never my favorite person,” Nick offered. Ambrose shook his head. Now that he had confessed, he couldn’t hold back.

“You don’t understand. He systematically stamped out everything that made Sabrina who she is. He wasn’t physically abusive. Of that I’m certain. He would have been in a grave far sooner had he laid a hand on her. But he wanted Sabrina to be the little wife at home, wanted her to be mortal. She gave up who she was – who she is – for that man. She gave up her hopes, her dreams. I don’t know that she realized it was happening until it was too late. It all happened so slowly, over time. So slowly I don’t know that even Harvey realized he was doing it. Sabrina found herself setting the dinner table so her husband would have a hot meal waiting upon his arrival home from work when she should have been out in the world, using her power, making this world a better place.

“I know you look at her and find it so hard to believe that she could be so vastly different,” he continued. “It is utterly mind-blowing, I know. But that year, that sixteen year, was so damned hard on her. It was hard on all of us, but especially her. Imagine, Nicholas, learning your entire existence was a lie, being relied on time and time again to save not only your family, not only your coven, but the whole damned world. We were all in it. We all helped her. But she was the one the responsibility fell on whether she wanted it or not. Of course she leaned into her mortal half after everything magic put her through. She just didn’t have anyone there to pull her back to who she is. We failed that girl, Nicholas. You, me, my aunts… We failed her.”

Nick was silent. He had picked up on all of the things Ambrose said in his limited interactions with Sabrina. His own blood boiled warm just below the surface if he thought about it too much. Harvey may not have physically harmed her, and he may not have ever realized it he was doing it, but as far as Nick was concerned, Sabrina Spellman had been in an emotionally abusive marriage where she wasn’t allowed to be who she truly was.

And he certainly carried around a heavy load of guilt that grew heavier with each passing day. Because he had already thought what Ambrose so passionately stated. He had failed Sabrina Spellman.

They all had.

“She’s free now,” he offered, trying to calm them both. “She has centuries ahead of her. She can get back to being the witch she is supposed to be, especially now that we’re all at the Academy.”

All together again, under one roof. He vowed to do his part to help her along the way.

“Maybe we can push her off the ledge she’s been teetering on with this Sons of Angels news,” Ambrose said.

“Let’s get a better idea of what we’re dealing with before we fully pull her in,” Nick proposed. “Maybe keep a bit of a closer eye on her in the meantime, just in case she does strike out on her own…”

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a mystery,” Ambrose mused. He sat back in his chair. “Welcome back to Greendale, Scratch.” He lifted his drink to toast him. “Damned good to have you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the version of Part 4 I imagined as I wrote this, Sabrina was really put through the wringer (well, that part was right...) and left mentally and emotionally exhausted. Add in what happens with Nick (more on that in later chapters) and she basically tapped out for a while. I get it. I've done that too. But she found herself in a familiar, comfortable relationship with Harvey who still struggled with the whole witch thing (more to come here too!) and she wanted to make him happy. 
> 
> It might still be a little gray, but I promise it will all come together as we go. And I do believe we saw some sparks... Between her and a certain warlock AND from Sabrina herself... 
> 
> And Nick as a doctor... ❤️
> 
> But Ambrose. I LOVE AMBROSE. That speech at Dorian's... 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this one - let me know your thoughts!


	4. Arrow to the Gut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone mentioned flashbacks in the comments last update... And oh, hey! We're about to get those. They're going to help shed light on how things got to this point. 
> 
> And remember, FIFTY YEARS has passed. People change. I was just reflecting in one of my classes on who I was as a 20 year old versus who I am now and I am so vastly different. Harvey, Sabrina, Nick... None of them are the same people they were as teenagers.

Nick idly worked his way through the test before him, happy to see the student had clearly studied. He was starting to learn which students wanted to learn, which ones needed a little help, and which ones he wanted to string out a window by their toenails. He had a few favorites, a few that drove him utterly mad. There were a couple he thought would go far in the magical world, a couple he hoped could pull off bartending at Dorian’s. He loved every minute of it, so much so he had actually started to plan his classes in advance, much to Zelda’s pleasure. He didn’t mind taking his work home, writing out his lesson plans in the comfort of his favorite armchair next to the fireplace.

He really had found his calling, that thing that set his soul on fire.

He wrote out the student’s score – an A – and moved on to the next test. He was writing a strongly worded note recommending this student crack their book, take notes during lecture, and see him for extra credit opportunities when he sensed her approaching presence. He looked up at the door of the study off the library he had posted up in just as Sabrina appeared. She had a book in hand.

“Oh!” she exclaimed when she noticed him. “Sorry. I was just… Looking for somewhere quiet to read…”

In truth, she had gotten stir crazy in her quarters and been driven out into the rest of the Academy in search of a change of scenery. She had plucked a book from the library and thought she may as well settle into what had once been one of her favorite places to hide away in the Academy. She hadn’t banked on running into anyone, let alone Nicholas Scratch.

“It’s quiet in here,” Nick pointed out. He was the only one in the room. “Plenty of places to sit down, too.”

“I don’t want to interrupt…”

“Unless you’re planning to throw a raging party, I don’t think you reading a book will interrupt my grading tests.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you want to throw a raging party. I could be persuaded.”

“No raging parties here,” she shook her head. Still, she hovered. “Are you sure? I really don’t want to interrupt.”

Nick saw quite clearly what Ambrose had been alluding to in Sabrina then. She was differential, didn’t want to intrude, needed reassurance that it was okay for her to sit down. The Sabrina he knew would have plopped right down and opened her book, whatever Nick’s preference be damned. It made his warm rage over the situation boil a little hotter.

“Take a seat then,” he said, working not to call her out right then and there. It was something he had to work up to. “Pick a chair, any chair.”

She said nothing but pushed off the doorframe and chose a seat across the room from him. He continued to grade but snuck the occasional peek at her as she read a gothic romance novel. He had a thousand questions, but he bit back every one of them. Nearly an hour passed with them working and reading in silence. Nick’s stack of history tests dwindled, and he switched over to essays for his demonology class.

“It’s a bit chilly in here,” Sabrina commented, breaking the quiet. Nick looked up from the awful paper he was reading. He could tell by the way she had curled into the chair that she was cold. He himself tended to run hot, a side effect of Hell, but he could sense that the stone room had cooled as the sun sank outside. He nodded at the empty fireplace.

“Feel free to start a fire if you’re cold.”

Sabrina looked at him for a long moment before she pushed herself out of the chair and wandered towards the fireplace. Nick pretended to resume reading his essays, but he covertly watched Sabrina. She systematically stacked wood in the grate, arranging it just so. When she was satisfied, she stood back with her hands on her hips and studied the fireplace.

“There aren’t any matches,” she stated.

Nick looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“Are you a witch or aren’t you?” he asked. She looked at him as though he had lost his mind.

“Of course I’m a witch!”

“Then you don’t need matches, do you?”

He waited, watching. He could all but see the wheels turning in her head. He merely looked at her, practically daring her to say the simple spell that would ignite the wood she had so clearly stacked.

“I seem to recall you summoned hellfire once,” he said after several long beats of silence. “This shouldn’t be so hard.”

She glared at him over her shoulder. With her chin jutted out in a show of defiance that finally – finally – reminded him of the girl he knew, she turned back to the grate. She drew in a breath and exhaled as she raised her hands. Nick watched with bated breath, not sure what was going to happen.

The Latin sounded dusty, as though she were picking up an old book for the first time in a long while as it fell from her ruby red lips. Still, a bright fire roared to life. She lowered her hands, staring at the fire before her. It reflected in her brown eyes and Nick knew what she felt. She felt the power coursing through her, awakening something in her.

“It’s okay to be powerful, Sabrina,” he told her. She turned to him as though remembering he was there for the first time. “It’s okay to use that power.”

She said nothing, but her eyes watered. She blinked away the tears to keep them from falling. He continued.

“You called forth hellfire,” he reminded her. “You are no ordinary witch, and you were not made to be small, to hold in that power.” A tear leaked down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. “You may have mortal blood, but you are not mortal. You’re not even a witch. You are a celestial. And I think it’s damned time you start acting like it.”

He didn’t wait for her to reply. He gathered his things and stood to leave.

“Nick…”

She didn’t know what to say, just that she didn’t want him to leave, not after he had said words her soul desperately needed to hear, not after he had reminded her of who she knew deep down she still was. He stopped before her, a few feet between them.

“It’s not like I didn’t do any magic,” she revealed. “If you ask my aunts or Ambrose, I didn’t do a single spell besides glamours, but that’s not entirely true. I did, on occasion. When I needed to.” She couldn’t pinpoint when she had truly stopped using her magic. It happened slowly, over time, until she simply didn’t do it anymore. “But the need to… It went away a little more each day until I just – didn’t use magic anymore.”

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Sabrina was happy._

_Most newlyweds were._

_She slipped her black headband into her hair and smiled at the reflection in the mirror as she watched Harvey, his back to her while he buttoned his flannel for the day. She turned around and pointed her finger at the bed. The rumbled sheets straightened themselves, the corners tucked in tight. The pillows fluffed and the throw at the end of the bed neatly folded itself into place. She nodded her head once in approval of a job well done._

_Harvey turned back to her with a smile._

_“Sleep well?” he asked._

_“Very,” Sabrina replied with a flirty grin. “Perhaps I’ll sleep well again tonight?”_

_“I’d count on it,” he quipped with a similar grin. He noticed the bed. “You made the bed?”_

_“You certainly didn’t,” she teased. Harvey was a lot of things, but useful around the house when it came to chores wasn’t one of them. She didn’t mind picking up the slack. She had gone to college, majored in English, but so far, she hadn’t figured out what she wanted to do, whether in the witch world or mortal. Keeping busy around the house gave her something to do. It also reminded her of Aunt Hilda whom she didn’t see nearly enough of these days. And when Harvey did help, she had to go behind him and do it right anyway, so she figured she may as well do it herself if she wanted it done right._

_“But it was just… unmade.”_

_“A simple spell,” Sabrina shrugged._

_A shade of something she couldn’t identify crossed his features._

_“You need magic to make the bed?”_

_“Well, no,” Sabrina admitted. “It’s just quicker.” She tilted her head a bit as she considered him. “Is that a problem?”_

_“I just… It feels like a bit much, to use magic for something so simple.”_

_“You’ve seen me use magic for a whole lot more than making a bed,” Sabrina reminded him. “Making a bed with magic is merely child’s play.”_

_“I know you have powerful magic,” Harvey said. “I’ve spent the last however many years being well aware of your magic and its impressive. I guess I just thought, with everything, well, normal, again, there would be less of it.”_

_“Magic is a part of my being,” Sabrina told him. “Magic is what I do.”_

_“For household chores though?” Harvey questioned. “It’s one thing for you to perform some of those rituals of yours. I don’t understand it, but I understand it, if that makes sense.” Sabrina nodded. He didn’t understand her magic, but he understood it was a part of who she was, that it was what she and her aunts and coven members did, that they had rituals and ceremonies he wouldn’t be a part of. “I know it sounds crazy after everything I’ve seen, but you making the bed with magic feels – strange. Strange because it’s something that I feel like both witches and mortals can do the same way, if that makes sense.”_

_Sabrina continued to follow his thought process. He had seen her raise the dead, save the world. For someone without magic in their veins, it had to be overwhelming sometimes, to see such blatant displays of witchcraft._

_“So much of this house is magical,” he told her in an effort to explain what he was feeling. “I guess I don’t always feel like I belong.”_

_Sabrina had a moment of clarity._

_Her world was one of magic, of spells and rituals, of charms and potions. But she also had a foot in the mortal world. She understood Harvey’s world. No matter how much a part of her world he had been, no matter what he had seen, no matter how much he had helped, he himself didn’t have magical abilities. Her home teemed with magic. Centuries of it. Even something as simple as a vase may not be what it seemed. Harvey had grown up with four walls and a wood stove to keep him warm. She had conjured a fire in a jar when her room was a bit too drafty. The mortuary was a very different place for him than it was for her._

_“This is your home now,” Sabrina said in a gentle way. “Our home. My aunts and Ambrose have moved on, Ambrose traveling, Zee to the Academy, Hilda and Cee to their cottage. The mortuary is my family’s, but it’s also ours. You belong here, Harvey.” She went to her new husband and took his hands. “I know it’s different, living here now instead of just visiting. How can I help you feel like you’re at home here?”_

_He looked uncomfortable._

_“Do you think… Maybe… I don’t know… Less magic? Not no magic, by any means. You’re a witch and you do magic. But everything is so different here. I’m pretty sure that one painting down the hall literally talked to me two nights ago…”_

_“Josephine does come to say hello from time to time,” Sabrina said with a fond smile for her great-great aunt whose spirit liked to pop in and check on things once in a while. “I thought I heard her voice the other night.”_

_“I feel like I’m being watched or something,” Harvey confessed. “I didn’t expect the adjustment to be this hard for me. I’ve spent so much time here over the years. I felt like this place was my second home when we were growing up, dating. Now that it’s my home…” He shrugged a shoulder. “It feels – different.”_

_He wished he could more eloquently describe what the house made him feel, but he had never been one good with words. He simply couldn’t get comfortable there as a permanent resident._

_“How about I tamp down the magic when it comes to the common household things?_ At least while you’re home,Sabrina added to herself. _“For a little bit, at least, while you settle in? I’ll make the bed the mortal way, wash the dishes with my own two hands… Help bring some mortal normalcy to the place”_

_“I don’t mean to ask you not to do any magic at all… And I know you’re a witch, Sabrina, that you’re not mortal…”_

_“I know what you mean,” Sabrina assured him. In the back of her mind, she thought she heard Ambrose warning her about the perils of falling in love with a mortal all those years ago. She mentally told him to shut up. “You’re trying to find your place here. I understand.”_

_“I truly don’t want…”_

_“Harvey.” She squeezed his hands. “I understand.”_

_“I think it’s just this house,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the day when we have our own place. A place that is truly just ours.” It made him feel odd, living in the Spellman home, especially when he knew the truth about them and the centuries of magic and history the place held within its walls. His skin tingled whenever he crossed the threshold, as though the protection spells around the place were warning him or else checking to make sure he wasn’t a threat. It hadn’t bothered him as a teenager. Now that he lived there, it made him feel a bit unsettled._

_“I’ve told you, Harvey, I have money…”_

_“No, Sabrina,” Harvey shook his head. He was aware of Sabrina’s substantial assets. He refused to touch them. “I’m your husband. I need – I want – to provide for you.”_

_“Shouldn’t the same go for me as I’m your wife?” Sabrina questioned. “Wanting and needing to provide for us? This goes two ways, Harvey. What’s mine is yours, as the vows say.”_

_“I’m your husband,” Harvey said again. “I want to provide us with a place to live with my own paycheck. I’m just starting out at the mines. Soon enough, we’ll be able to afford to move into a place of our own. Maybe not as big and grand as this place, but it will be ours.”_

_Sabrina decided to drop it for now. She sometimes thought Harvey felt a bit inadequate. He had tried college, hadn’t liked it, tried a few jobs that hadn’t worked out for one reason or another. Going into the mines with his father was a last resort and Sabrina had tried to convince him not to, but he had been hellbent on earning a paycheck and so she had yielded in hopes he would find something that set his soul on fire someday soon._

_She hoped_ she _found something that set her soul on fire. Whiling away her days at the mortuary was for the birds. She almost wished for another threat to befall Greendale. Almost. The peace was also rather nice._

_“I should get to work,” Harvey said. “I’m already risking running late.”_

_“Your lunch is on the counter,” she replied with a nod. “A thermos of coffee, too. Any special requests for dinner tonight?”_

_“Surprise me,” Harvey answered. “Thanks for packing my lunch, ‘Brina.”_

_“Of course.” She accepted his peck of a kiss. “Have a good day.”_

_She listened to him walk down the hall and then descend the steps. She waited another couple of minutes, then turned back to the mirror. She took in her outfit and decided to change. With a quick twirl, she was in something new. Satisfied, she stepped out of the bedroom to begin her day._

_She used magic to shut the door behind her._

_*****END FLASHBACK***  
** _

Nick considered her. He thought there was too much tiptoeing around her, too much coddling as a way to make up for the last several decades. He wasn’t going to participate in it. It was the last thing she needed, from him or anyone else. He had always challenged her and she had always responded in kind.

“Stop being so subservient, Sabrina.” He looked her right in the eye and in that moment, she was Lilith and he was Lucifer in that stupid play that had served as the catalyst to finally bring them together. “It doesn’t suit you.”

He left her then and she shivered in his wake, although not from the cold. She turned back to the fire and watched the dancing flames.

She had done that.

She had created fire.

She lifted a hand and watched as the fire grew at her command.

She still felt lost, adrift.

But at the same time, something in her felt restored. More solid and steady than it had been in a long time.

She wondered if it was the magic.

Or if it had something to do with the warlock that, twice now, had forced it out of her.

* * *

Sabrina tapped on the doorframe of Zelda’s office.

“You wanted to see me, Auntie?”

“I did.” Zelda peered at her over her glasses. “Come in. Shut the door. Sit down.” Sabrina followed the orders as directed. Zelda pierced her with a serious expression. True to form, she wasted no time. “Sabrina, Mr. Kinkle has been dead for nearly two months now.”

“Six weeks,” Sabrina corrected automatically. She didn’t bother to correct Zelda for not calling Harvey by his first name. Zelda had stopped doing that the day she learned he had become a Catholic.

“Semantics,” Zelda waved a bored hand. “What are your plans?”

“My plans?” Sabrina repeated.

“You surely don’t think I’m going to allow you to waste away in your quarters, do you?” Zelda asked. “Frankly, I’ve allowed you to waste away at the mortuary for the last fifty years. I have decided it’s time to do something about it.”

“I haven’t wasted…”

“You have,” Zelda cut her off and Sabrina figured it was for the best. She hadn’t exactly been living up to her full potential in decades. “Enough is enough, Sabrina. You need to figure out what you’re going to do with yourself now that your husband has left this plane. You are a Spellman, and Spellman women don’t slink into the shadows the way you have. I’m disgusted with myself for allowing it all this time.”

She, too, had decided she was done with tiptoeing around Sabrina. It was time for her niece to stop up and claim her rightful place amongst their coven.

“I wanted to live a normal life,” Sabrina tried. She wished she could better articulate why she had made the choices she had, why things had gone the way they had. She was only just starting to see things clearly herself. Hindsight was 20/20 as the saying went. “I wanted…”

“Oh save it, Sabrina.” Zelda had run out of patience. “I will admit that once the Eldritch Terrors were defeated and equilibrium restored to the realms, you deserved a break. But we both know you should have never married that boy, the least of the many reasons as to why being that he was a mortal. You did anyway, and the rest of us suffered for it.”

“Suffered for it?” Sabrina repeated. “I never asked you…”

“Note that neither Ambrose nor I were frequently around,” Zelda pointed out. “When you needed us, particularly there at the end? Of course we were there. Because we are your family. Your Aunt Hilda always had a soft spot for that odd mortal and what did it get her? Years of playing housemaid for a man who believed in the _False God_.”

Sabrina wanted to argue, but she found she couldn’t. She was painfully conflicted over the whole thing, saw both her aunt’s side of things and her own. She carried a lot of guilt that her family had ended up sacrificing so much for her. She held onto a lot of anger, too. At herself for allowing the slow spiral into the rock bottom she had found herself and at – others – for their parts in the last fifty years as well.

“Harvey’s beliefs were problematic in the end,” she offered. “I admit that.”

“That’s something I suppose,” Zelda snipped. “But back to the matter at hand as it will do us no good to rehash the past. What are your plans?”

“I don’t… Have any,” Sabrina admitted. She was ashamed to admit as much. It had felt good to not have a plan or a realm to save fifty years ago. Now, it felt like a large, gaping wound.

Zelda sighed dramatically.

“As I suspected. Fine then. I’m giving you a task to keep you busy. Beginning on Monday, you are going to be in charge of study halls and tutoring sessions.” Sabrina opened her mouth to argue against the menial task. “Don’t you dare,” Zelda cut her off. “Every last one of us must pull our weight around here. Until you come up with a better plan to use your dormant talents, you will report to duty at eight o’clock every weekday, without complaint.”

Sabrina blew out a breath. She knew better than to argue. She wanted to, but she found she didn’t have much of an argument in the end. She thought tutoring and watching students study was beneath her, but she didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on at the moment. She spent most of her time searching for something to do to fill her time, and at least Zelda was presenting her with an opportunity to fill her days.

“Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll give it a try.”

“You have a new chance at life, Sabrina,” Zelda said, much as Ambrose had. “May I suggest you take it?” Sabrina merely looked at he in that challenging way of hers. Zelda rolled her eyes, wishing for the days when she swore her niece’s smart mouth would be the death of her. “You’re dismissed.”

Conflicted, Sabrina left Zelda’s office.

Zelda wasn’t wrong. She needed to get herself together and move forward. But she had spent the last fifty years as half of a couple, most of those married, making decisions with Harvey in mind, although now she could see that he rarely had included her in the decision-making process from his perspective. She had given her life to him, but she knew, even if she didn’t want to admit it, that she had also given up her life for him, little by little.

Now, with a blank slate before her, she had no idea how to begin to fill her life again.

What she did know was that her magic was still there. Ever since Nick had coaxed her into starting a fire two days earlier, she had allowed herself to do small spells, always in private, first to remind herself that she could do it and then to brush off the dust. She didn’t want her aunts or Ambrose to make a big deal over it, yet she knew they would, so she kept it under wraps for the moment.

She had really missed magic. OF that she was certain. It felt good to let it flow freely once more, summoning things from across the room, turning lights on and off, filling her bathtub magically. She had even teleported from the back garden to the mortuary and back again the day before, just to prove to herself she could.

She was considering what she was going to do next, fix herself some lunch or perhaps attempt to conjure up a television so she could watch a movie, when a soft cry reached her ears. She paused in the Academy’s entry and listened. She heard it again, a bit louder. This time, she could make out what the voice was saying.

“Help!”

It was coming from outside.

She rushed for the door and flung it open. Two of the Academy students were stumbling towards her, a boy, Alexander, she thought his name was, and a girl she knew to be called Sage. Except Alexander had his arm around Sage who was doubled over in pain.

“What happened?” Sabrina called out as she hurried down the stairs. As she got closer, she saw a bloom of deep red blood on the girl’s dress. An arrow stuck out of her abdomen.

“We were in the woods,” Alexander was frantic. “I wanted to take her on a picnic. We heard a noise and then she was shot…”

“Help… Me…” Sage whimpered. She was pale and losing blood rapidly. The infirmary was on the second floor. Sage would never make it.

“Lay her down,” Sabrina ordered. “Now.” Alexander did as directed. Sabrina fell to her knees next to Sage. “It’s going to be okay.” She took her hand. The girl was weak, trembling. “We’re going to take care of you.” She looked at Alexander and said the first thing that came to mind. “Go get Brother Scratch. Right now.” Alexander waivered, not wanting to leave Sage. “Alexander! Get Brother Scratch! Now! Hurry!”

Alexander took off at a run. Sabrina held Sage’s hand tightly.

“It… Hurts…”

Sage tried to grab at the arrow.

“No no,” Sabrina stopped her. “I know it hurts, but if you pull it out, you will bleed out.”

“It just… Hurts… So much…”

“We’re going to help you,” Sabrina promised her. “Just hold on for me, okay? It’s going to be okay. Brother Scratch is coming. He’s a doctor, did you know that?”

“I thought… Teacher…”

“That too,” Sabrina nodded. She needed to keep Sage talking. “But he went to mortal medical school. He will know what to do.” She looked towards the Academy just as Nick erupted from it.

“Sabrina?” he called. “What’s going on?”

“Sage has been shot,” she reported. “With an arrow.”

“It’s… Burning…” Sage breathed out.

Nick was at her side. He assessed the situation quickly. He knew who had shot her, but that wasn’t the immediate problem. He opened his mouth to reply, but an arrow came whizzing past his left ear. He spun around, searching for the source, but Sabrina had already spotted it. A lone witch hunter stood partially hidden in the woods.

Her magic was fast and sure. He cried out as his hand caught fire. He dropped the bow and tried in vain to put the fire out. Except it wouldn’t. She had used a spell that would cause his hand to burn off before the fire was extinguished. She threw up a protective barrier just as Nick did the same, then the pair of them gave their full attention back to Sage.

“Okay, we need to get the arrow out, and we need to stop the bleeding,” Nick directed. He looked to Alexander. “Give me your shirt.” The boy didn’t hesitate to pull it off. Nick put the shirt around the base of the arrow in an effort to slow the bleed. “Sage, I’m really sorry, but this is going to hurt like Heaven…” He grasped the stem of the arrow with his other hand. A sizzling filled the air. “Fuck!” he cried out. He jerked his hand away. His palm seared red. Sage howled in pain as the motion caused the arrow to move around in her.

“Holy water,” Sabrina realized, her eyes wide with fear as she put the pieces together. “She just said it was burning…” Nick searched his brain for a way to remove an arrow he couldn’t touch. “I can pull it out,” Sabrina offered as though reading his mind. Nick locked eyes with her. “I’m baptized,” she reminded him. “It won’t burn me. But you’re going to have to tell me what to do.”

Nick only hesitated for a moment before he nodded, ignoring his throbbing hand as best he could. It was a minor injury, something he could deal with later. He had to help Sage first.

“Okay,” he agreed. “You’re going to have to be quick and smooth, Sabrina. Try to pull it straight up, at the same angle it entered, as best you can.” He looked to Alexander. “I need you to help me hold Sage still. Sage? You’re going to have to be really, really brave.”

“What happens when I pull?” Sabrina asked.

“I’m going to try to stop the bleeding,” Nick said as he pressed the t-shirt around her wound even tighter. “You ready?” Sabrina nodded, her jaw set in determination. “Okay, grasp the arrow as close to her body as you can.” Sabrina did instructed, her first resting over where Nick had wrapped the shirt. Nick checked to make sure Alexander was in place, holding down both of Sage’s arms. Nick draped a strong arm over her legs and used his upper body to both steady her abdomen. He tuned out Sage moaning in pain. “On the count of three, Sabrina.” She nodded. Nick saw her focus and knew in that moment Sage would be okay. “One… Two…” He watched her hands tighten around the arrow. “Three!”

Sabrina pulled.

The arrow emerged with a sickening squelch of blood and Sage’s ear-piercing shriek. Nick moved fast, applying pressure over the wound. He put as much of his weight over the wound as he could and began to mutter a spell under his breath. Sabrina worked to try to calm Sage, but she put one hand over Nick’s, offering him her power to channel to increase the strength of his spell. Sage’s cries had drawn the attention of others, however, and a small crowd of students began to gather.

“What on earth is going on?” came Hilda’s voice. She gasped. “Oh my!” She pushed forward to help. “What can I do?”

“I got her stable,” Nick reported. He kept his voice low so others wouldn’t overhear. “She was shot by an arrow doused in Holy Water.” Hilda’s eyes bulged. She knew of the Sons of Angels symbol found at the mortuary and of Nick’s theory associated with it. “She will need to be moved to the infirmary for further treatment.”

“I can take it from here,” Hilda nodded. “I think you will be needed elsewhere.”

“You’re going to be okay, Sage,” Nick told her. “Hilda’s going to take care of you now.”

He stood next to Sabrina and watched as Hilda levitated Sage and directed her inside. Alexander went with her, still holding her hand.

“Back to wherever you’re supposed to be,” Zelda directed the gathered students. Nick nor Sabrina had noticed her arrival. “Go on, back inside.”

Nick looked to Sabrina. She still had the arrow in her hand and was strangely pale.

“Hold that arrow out for me?” he requested. She did as directed and watched as he performed an intricate piece of magic over it. With one finger, he gingerly touched it. Nothing. He had deactivated it. Sabrina appreciated the magic for the difficult feat it was. “Let me take a look.”

He took the arrow and turned it over in his hands, examining it. It was gilded gold, well-crafted. He turned it so he could peer at the bloodied tip.

“Fuck,” he breathed, his suspicions. There, engraved in the tip, was the Sons of Angels symbol.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked.

“Mr. Scratch?” Zelda prompted. Nick looked between them.

“Inside,” he directed. He was certain the Sons of Angels weren’t far off, even could be watching them at this very moment, especially if one lone one had been in the woods just moments ago. “Now.”

He didn’t think. He put an arm around Sabrina’s waist and pulled her towards the door, purposefully using his bigger frame to shield her in case they were attacked again. When they were all safely inside, he shut the door and leveled the heavy piece of wood to bar the door as well.

“What’s going on?” Sabrina demanded. “Why are you barring the door?”

Nick ignored her for the moment.

“Zelda, we need a headcount.” He sounded authoritative, urgent. “Make sure no one else is out. Then there will need to be a coven meeting. Rules need to be put in place. No more going out after dark, if at all, travel in pairs…”

“Do stop telling me how to do my job, Brother Scratch,” Zelda interrupted. “Wait for me in my office. I will send Ambrose. I assume you have need for him?”

“I do,” Nick nodded. “I’m going to clean up first, but I’ll be right there.” He turned to rush up the stairs to his quarters, the arrow still in his hand.

“No so fast, Scratch.” He stopped and turned back to Sabrina. Like him, she was smeared with Sage’s blood. She had her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes on him. “What in the Heaven is going on? Why did I just pull an arrow drenched in holy water out of a student? Why are you and my aunt talking like you already know what’s going on?”

“Who uses arrows poisoned with holy water, Sabrina?” Nick challenged.

“Witch hunters,” Sabrina said easily. “There was one in the woods.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my Hecate.”

“Exactly,” he nodded.

“That symbol you found at the mortuary,” she continued. “It wasn’t a prank or something that had been there for a while. Not that I believed that pathetic attempt to lie to me.”

“It wasn’t a prank and it was a recent addition to the property,” Nick admitted. “Ambrose and I told Zelda about it and we have been quietly researching, but there was reason to believe it was a warning. Now I’m certain it was.”

“We’re being hunted.”

She looked faint.

“We are.” Nick didn’t sugarcoat it for her. “We need to act fast to make sure this coven is safe. And then we need to stop them.” He watched her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath. “Go get cleaned up,” he directed. “Be back in your aunt’s office as soon as you can.” He studied her. “Unless you are still refraining from magic. In that case, your presence won’t be needed.”

Sabrina’s eyes narrowed again. That familiar look of fire he associated with her showed itself. Relief filled him, but he didn’t allow it to show.

“My family – my coven – is in danger,” she informed him. “I will not stand down.”

“Good,” he approved. He gave her a long look. “You did well back there, Sabrina. Both with the magic and with Sage. I couldn’t have helped her without you.”

“I wasn’t going to let her die,” Sabrina stated. “I wasn’t going to let that witch hunter shoot another one of us either.”

He wanted to say more, but there wasn’t time, not right now.

“I’ll see you in Zelda’s office,” he said.

“Zelda’s office,” she agreed.

He left, hurrying up the stairs. Sabrina followed at a slower rate, her mind racing.

They were in danger.

But even so, she couldn’t ignore the thrill that was also there.

She was no longer sitting dormant.

She had a purpose.

And despite the danger, that felt damned good.

* * *

“Well?”

Zelda stood behind her desk with her arms crossed, peering at Nick, Ambrose, and now, Sabrina. Hilda was still tending to Sage.

“The arrow is from the Sons.” Nick laid the arrow on the table for all of them to see. He pointed to the tip. “Their symbol is there.”

“And who, exactly, are the Sons?” Sabrina asked. She had quickly deduced that she was the only one in the room that didn’t know the full extent about what was going on, and that didn’t set well with her.

“Like I told you at the mortuary, the Sons of Angels are a band of witch hunters,” Nick told her. “They’re storied for both their brutality and their completeness of a job. Once they target a coven, that coven rarely survives.” He decided now was as good as any time to make a confession. “I’m one of the few known survivors of their attacks. They were responsible for my parents’ deaths.”

“Damn,” Ambrose said under his breath. Nick continued, not giving anyone a chance to voice their sympathy although he noted Sabrina’s wide eyes as he spoke directly to her.

“I had suspicions that their mark on the Spellman fence was recent, but I didn’t want to upset you until I knew more. Ambrose confirmed it hadn’t been there two days earlier.”

“Are they after you?” Sabrina asked as she attempted to work out why they were in Greendale. “Because you survived them?”

“They’re after anyone that has magic in their veins,” he told her. “But it wasn’t my house they left their mark on, was it?”

Sabrina sat up a bit straighter.

“They’ve singled out my family. Of course.”

It was always her family.

“I would guess they are after this whole coven,” Nick corrected. “Your family is the head of it. But I told you when we found it that it’s unusual for them to leave their mark until after they have killed. It was a warning for the Spellmans. After today, we can be sure they are nearby.”

“What’s especially interesting is the fact that they’re in North America,” Ambrose added. “They typically stick to Europe where the population of our kind is far higher, with the occasional trips into Africa or Asia.”

“It’s been three centuries since their last known appearance in North America,” Nick confirmed. “They attacked a coven in Asheville, North Carolina. There were no survivors.”

“Tell her the rest of it,” Zelda prompted. “So we can move on and figure out a way to stop them.”

“The rest of it?” Sabrina sat forward, fully alert. Nick and Ambrose exchanged a look. Nick nodded to indicate he would be the one to reveal their theory.

“You were married to a witch hunter, Sabrina,” he said bluntly. “It can’t be coincidence that they singled out your home.”

“Harvey wasn’t a witch hunter,” Sabrina shook her head. “His family? Absolutely. But not him. He denounced that…”

“He also caused you to suppress your magic,” Ambrose reminded her. “He never accepted what you are.”

“He didn’t cause me to do anything…”

“Oh please,” Zelda scoffed. “You walked into the dining room levitating several dishes Hilda had made for dinner not long after that mortal moved into our home and within the hour, the pair of you were in your bedroom having what you believed to be a hushed argument over your show of magic.”

Sabrina knew exactly the argument she was talking about. Harvey had asked her not to use magic for simple tasks, said he wanted some normalcy. At the time, she had agreed, thinking it must be hard for him to be moving into a house so full of magic and folklore. Now, she saw clearly that it should have been her first sign that things weren’t as they should have been.

“He wasn’t a witch hunter,” she said again. “He had every chance to expose us and never did.”

“Perhaps he wasn’t a witch hunter, but he still had it in his blood,” Nick said, eyes on her. “You’re a witch, and yet you pushed that part of yourself down deep, didn’t you? Didn’t access it for who knows how long? Who’s to say he didn’t do the same?”

Sabrina found she had no argument. She barely knew Harvey anymore by the time he died.

“The Sons of Angels pride themselves on ridding the world of evil in the name of the False God,” Ambrose said. “Your dearly departed husband was praying the rosary around the clock in his final days.”

Again, Sabrina didn’t have much in the way of an argument.

“Why would they come after us?” she asked. “To avenge Harvey’s death? That makes no sense. He died entirely of cancer… I took care of him in those final days… Good care of him.”

It had left her bone weary, but she had done everything he could to make sure he was comfortable as he faded from this world.

“Witch hunters aren’t known to be reasonable, now are they?” Ambrose pointed out. “We’re witches. Kinkle or not, that’s the only reason they need.”

“Our first order of business needs to be protecting this coven,” Nick said, bringing the focus back to the most pressing issue at hand. “Zelda, I assume you’re prepared to brief them?”

“I am,” she nodded. “I plan to tell them enough, but still little. There will be no traipsing about the grounds around the Academy for the foreseeable future.” She looked at Sabrina. “That goes for everyone.”

Sabrina shot her a dirty look.

“Ambrose and I will continue to research the Sons, see what we can learn. We’ll also put up more protections around the Academy and if we can swing it, find out where they’re hiding out. We do that, we can attack first.”

“You talk like there’s to be a war,” Sabrina commented.

“Not a war,” Nick shook his head. “A battle. It will only take one collision for one group to end the other.” A chill ran through Sabrina. “We’ll need to question Sage and Alexander,” he continued. “I’m sure Hilda is going to resist, but it can’t wait. The longer we wait, the less they’ll remember. Even the smallest facts can prove crucial.”

“You have my permission,” Zelda nodded. “Disregard my sister if she tries to stop you.”

“What can I do?” Sabrina asked. “How can I help?”

“Stay out of the way and out of trouble,” Ambrose said immediately.

“You’ll help Ambrose and I,” Nick said at the same time. Ambrose looked at Nick, but Nick only had eyes for Sabrina. “You knew Kinkle better than any of us. If he had a secret or a connection to a bloodthirsty gang of witch hunters, you’ll be the one to find it.”

His words gave Sabrina a certain boost of confidence.

“That’s settled then,” Zelda stated. “Let’s get to work.”

She used magic to open her door, effectively kicking them out.

“Sage and Alexander?” Ambrose asked.

“Yep,” Nick agreed. He looked at Sabrina. She sat there, looking unsure of what she was supposed to do next. “You coming?”

“I’m coming,” she nodded. She pushed out her chair quickly as though making up for lost time and made for the door.

“Ambrose, a moment?” Zelda requested. “You’ll catch up with Nicholas and Sabrina momentarily.” Ambrose waited for Nick and Sabrina to disappear down the hall. Zelda looked to her nephew. “Is she up for this?”

“Nicholas certainly thinks so,” Ambrose observed. “I heard him in the entry earlier. He challenged her, told her if she wasn’t willing to do magic, she needed to stand down. But she came, didn’t she? She did a Heaven of a feat of magic earlier, setting that witch hunter’s hands on fire. I don’t think you’ll disagree that she was more like herself in this last hour than she’s been in decades.”

“There were certainly signs of her old fire,” Zelda agreed. She blew out a breath. “Very well. Keep an eye on her, Ambrose.”

“I will,” Ambrose promised. “But I think Nicholas will ensure no harm comes to her.”

He left the office and Zelda settled into her chair to make a few notes ahead of her meeting with the coven. In the back of her mind, she felt a growing confidence.

Her niece may well be on her way back.

And it wouldn’t entirely surprise her if one Nicholas Scratch became a true member of her family one of these days.

Just as he should have always been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slight bit of insight into the very early days of Sabrina and Harvey's marriage. I wanted to show Harvey's struggles a bit here. It can't be easy for him to move into a place like the mortuary when he's a mortal and his in-laws are such powerful witches. He didn't tell Sabrina she couldn't do magic. He only wanted to feel normal in his new house. At least in the beginning. 
> 
> But we definitely saw the "old" Sabrina reappear here, didn't we? She was on it. And so was Nick with all of his challenging. Wait until these two get in the kitchen... 
> 
> Thanks for reading this one! I know it's a little different and maybe a bit "out there" for some, but I really love this story, so I'm going to continue sharing it and hoping you'll read it! <3 Let me know what you thought of this one - the real magic is starting to unfold!


	5. But You're A Catholic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few people have wondered about Harvey's conversion to Catholicism. Hopefully this sheds some light for you. 
> 
> Trigger warning: Discussion of wanting babies, grief, and unhappy marriages below.

Nick peeked up from the text he was reading. Sabrina was still pensively staring at her own book, just as she had been doing for the last half hour. He used a nonverbal spell to send a breeze strong enough to lift her hair and ruffle the pages of her book in her direction. She startled and looked his way.

“You’re a million miles away,” he observed.

“Just – thinking.” She sat back in her chair with a sense of heaviness. “I’m revisiting all of these memories with Harvey, wondering if there was more to them, if there was something I missed…”

“No one is saying Harvey himself was a witch hunter,” Nick reminded her. “But he was the last of his lineage and he married a witch. The Sons aren’t the type that need to be inspired to kill. It’s simply who they are, but you can’t deny the connection warrants investigation.”

Sabrina was quiet. Nick knew she was contemplating something. He let her. If she wanted to confide in him, she would. She finally raised her eyes to his, her mind made up.

“He wouldn’t have children with me,” she confessed. The pain in her eyes was evident. “I wanted, badly, to be a mother.” It was uncomfortable, revealing something so personal to Nick of all people, but this felt important. “With him being a mortal, I knew I needed to have children sooner rather than later if he was going to be a part of their lives. But he…”

She hesitated.

“You can tell me,” Nick encouraged. He thought he could guess, however.

“He didn’t want – half-breeds.” She all but choked on the word. “He said he saw the struggle I had to go through of keeping one foot in both my mortal world and my magic one and he didn’t want that for our kids. At the time, I honestly thought he had a point. It was hard, trying to be a part of both and for a while, I wrestled with whether or not I wanted to put a child through that. I know now that Harvey simply didn’t want to be a father. He didn’t want to have children, at least not with me.”

Nick had suspected a much. He took a deep breath to calm the rage that boiled hotter with each new bit of information within him before he spoke.

“Harvey’s decision not to have children with you was his loss,” he stated. He left it there so as not to say something he might regret.

“Zelda thinks otherwise.” Sabrina played with the pen in her hand. It was hard to talk about this with Nick, but it also felt okay. He wasn’t judging her, wasn’t adding how own commentary the way her aunts or Ambrose might have. It was simply listening. It was nice, having someone listen to her. “His lineage wasn’t carried on.”

Nick couldn’t argue with that logic. He could even admit that he agreed. He was fine living in a world without the Kinkles in it.

“He found religion in his last years,” he said, changing the topic slightly. He thought Sabrina might need to talk about something different, too. “Tell me about that?”

“It came on gradually,” Sabrina recalled. “I think Roz’s death made him curious. She was always devout in her beliefs. Even if she was friends with me.” Nick nodded. He had always begrudgingly admired that about Roz – she accepted Sabrina’s dark beliefs without question while holding true to her own, sometimes even mingling the two as she existed with her own abilities. “Then his dad died and that was the thing that sent him to church. He snuck around for a while. He told me he was going to poker night with some of the guys from the mines on Wednesdays. I didn’t mind – I liked having the house to myself. I’d make a cup of tea, sit and read or binge watch something on TV. But then he started making up excuses to disappear on Sunday mornings. Always something he needed to do at the mines before work on Monday.” She smiled just slightly. “I thought he was cheating on me.”

“When did he come clean?”

“A few years back,” Sabrina shrugged. “I don’t know that he ever would have, but I was determined to catch him cheating and I went through his things. I found his Bible and study material.”

“You fought.”

It wasn’t a question. Nick was sure Harvey and Sabrina had gone to blows over the revelation.

“We did,” she confirmed with a nod. “I felt betrayed. He felt like he should have the freedom to find his own god. I have Hecate after all. I couldn’t find fault in that argument, so I backed down. I didn’t like that he kept his rosary and Bible in our room, but Zelda wouldn’t allow them in other parts of the house, even though she lived at the Academy by then, so I put up with it.”

“You made a lot of sacrifices for him,” Nick observed.

“That’s what you do in a relationship.” She looked right at him. “You make sacrifices.”

This time, the memory they visited together but separately was of the night Nick stepped forward as the vessel for the Dark Lord. Nick blinked his eyes as though hoping to rid himself of the memory. Another one threatened to take its place, this one of Sabrina offering herself up in the name of saving the rest of them.

“When he died, did he have last rites?” Nick asked, working to keep them focused and his mind away from memories he didn’t want to revisit.

Sabrina nodded solemnly.

“His priest came to the house.” She smirked just slightly. “Zelda was thrilled.”

“I imagine she was,” Nick said, thinking the man must have been protected by more than a cross around his neck if he made it past Zelda Spellman. “Was it the same priest that presided over his funeral?” Sabrina shook her head.

“No, it was…” She searched her mind, trying to recall everything she could from the night Harvey passed. It had been such a blur at the time, but some of it became clearer now. “I had never seen him before, but I didn’t think it was odd at the time. I’m not exactly Catholic, am I? Why would I have seen him before?”

“Any chance you remember a name?” Nick prompted. Sabrina searched her memory. It came to her in a slow manner, as though the memory had been sitting on a shelf, waiting for her to pluck it off and blow the dust of neglect away.

“Harvey called him ‘Father Gabriel,’” she revealed. “Harvey was weak, but he raised his hand in greeting and said ‘Father Gabriel.’ It was the last thing he said. He died a few hours later. I haven’t seen that man before or since.”

“Father Gabriel,” Nick repeated. “Gabriel is the name of an archangel. It’s also a common name in the religious circuit.”

“How do we find him?” Sabrina wondered. “Or do we find try to him?”

Nick considered the question. Eventually, he nodded.

“We try to find him,” he decided. “Is there anything among Harvey’s things that might help us locate this Father Gabriel? Or perhaps someone associated with him?”

“I haven’t touched his things since he died,” Sabrina confessed. “You may have noticed we didn’t stay in my old bedroom.” Nick nodded. He had noticed right away that Sabrina’s bedroom bore no sign of Harvey Kinkle having ever lived there. He found the fact oddly comforting. “His belongings are still in the master bedroom.”

“I don’t want to ask you to go through them,” Nick said. “I understand that might be hard for you. But if I could have your permission…”

“No,” Sabrina cut him off with a shake of her head. “I mean, yes. I’ll go through them.” She nodded to herself. “I need to.” She brought her eyes back to his. “But if you want to help…” She shrugged a single shoulder. “You’re good at seeing things others don’t.”

He always had been, for better or worse, and she found she didn’t want to go alone.

“If you’re sure,” Nick prompted.

“I’m sure,” Sabrina nodded. “We need answers and I probably shouldn’t venture out alone anyway, should I?”

Nick cracked a smile.

“Look at you, being reasonable in your slightly older age.”

“Ha ha,” she said in a dry tone that made Nick chuckle a bit. He tried not to watch as she ran her tongue along her bottom lip as a thought occurred to her. “There’s also his father’s house. The man died some twenty years ago, but Harvey never gave up the house. It could be empty. It probably is. But maybe it’s worth checking.”

“It’s definitely worth checking,” Nick agreed. “But Sabrina, wouldn’t you own the house now? If Harvey never gave it up and you’re his widow?”

“I suppose I would,” Sabrina realized. “That and the mines.”

“Any reason to go into the mines?” Nick wondered.

“Only to blow them up,” she said, not quite joking. “But if we don’t find anything at the mortuary or the Kinkle home, his office at the mines could be worth a look.”

“Just not alone,” Nick reminded her in his stern manner. Sabrina pushed away from the table as a response.

“Shall we go to the mortuary?” she asked.

“Now?”

“We aren’t getting very far with books. Might as well dig around in his things, see what we find.”

“True,” Nick agreed. “Let’s go.” He let her lead them outside of the Academy before he spoke again. “Sabrina?” She stopped and looked at him. He held out his hand. “Teleport us.” She frowned.

“What?”

“Teleport us,” he said again. “If you’re in this, if you’re going to help us find the Sons, I need to know you can teleport out of an unsafe situation.” She looked nervous but determined. It had been more than thirty years since she had teleported anywhere. She took his hand. A jolt like fire went through her as their hands met. She tried to act like she hadn’t noticed, but she saw by the way Nick blinked that he had felt it, too.

“Lanuae Magicae.”

They disappeared and reappeared on the inside of the gate of the mortuary. Sabina quickly dropped his hand.

“Still got it,” she informed him.

“You do,” Nick agreed. He said no more, but flexed his fingers at his side, trying to shake off the feeling of her hand in his, the faint tingle of whatever that charge of electricity that had shot through him had been. “Let me check the house.” He did the same spell he had when he helped her move. “All clear.”

He allowed her to lead the way. He kept his eyes peeled, ready to react to any hint of a threat. He didn’t fully exhale until they were inside.

“You’re wound tight,” Sabrina observed as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

“We’re doing the exact thing Zelda told the coven not to do,” he reminded her. “Leaving the Academy. I’m trying to make sure we make it back in one piece.”

“We’ll be fine.”

The conviction in Sabrina’s voice made him smile.

“Looks like you’re settling into breaking the rules once more quite nicely,” he commented.

“I’m doing what needs to be done,” she stated. She paused outside the door of the master bedroom, her hand on the doorknob.

“If you want a minute alone...,” Nick offered.

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. She didn’t want to be there any longer than she had to be. “Let’s get this over with.” She turned the knob and pushed open the door.

_*****FLASHBACK***** _

_Sabrina sat ramrod straight on the edge of the bed she shared with Harvey and waited. Nearly an hour passed before she heard the sound of his truck rumble up to the mortuary. A few more minutes ticked by as she listened to him walk around downstairs before he made his way up to her._

_“There you are,” he greeted. He didn’t move to kiss her hello as he once had. He had stopped doing that years ago. Instead, he shrugged off his worn utility jacket, tossed it over a nearby armchair, and went to work unbuttoning his plaid shirt. Sabrina watched him, observing how he had aged over the last forty-five years. He had filled out, gained enough weight that he could no longer be called slim yet he wasn’t overweight either. He kept a scruffy beard more often than not and his hair had been peppered in color for several years now. He had a fair number of wrinkles, a couple of age spots. He looked even older than he was, unlike her. She sat glamor-free, having ripped the thing off in a fury a few hours earlier. She looked every bit the fresh-faced teenager he had first fallen in love with, despite the fact that she had just passed her sixtieth birthday. “Was there any dinner?”_

_His question made her frown deepen._

_“Dinner?” she repeated._

_The audacity he had._

_“Hilda’s at the Academy, right?” He tossed the shirt to the chair, leaving him in an undershirt. “I didn’t see any food downstairs. You usually leave me something in the microwave when I’m not home for dinner.”_

_“I’ve been preoccupied,” she stated. “Anything you’d like to tell me?”_

_He finally looked at her. He appraised her._

_“You’re not wearing your glamour.”_

_“I took it off earlier,” she snipped back._

_“But if someone came to the door…”_

_“No one comes to the door, Harvey,” she cut him off. “No one has come to this door in years, save for your buddies from the mines when we’re forced to have them over for a Christmas party every December. And for the love of all things unholy, would it kill you to drop your clothes in the hamper? It’s the same thing, every damned day…”_

_“You’re mad about something,” Harvey observed._

_“And you’re a liar.”_

_Sabrina reached under the throw blanket folded neatly across the foot of the bed. She removed a Bible and watched Harvey’s eyes grow wide._

_“I can explain…”_

_“Can you?” Sabrina countered. “Please, then. Explain. Explain to me why there’s a Bible in your nightstand, one that happens to be full of notes written in your handwriting.”_

_Harvey sighed. He had been caught._

_“I’ve been going to church,” he confessed. “For a few months now. Sundays and Wednesday evenings. That’s where I was tonight, actually.”_

_“Church,” Sabrina repeated. “So when you’ve been at ‘poker night’ like you supposedly were tonight or ‘working late’ or ‘going into the office to do some paperwork’ on a Sunday morning, you’ve actually been in church.”_

_“I knew you’d react like this,” Harvey sighed. “That’s why I didn’t tell you.”_

_“I’m reacting like this_ because _you didn’t tell me,” Sabrina countered._

_“Why were you snooping in my nightstand anyway?” Harvey asked. “You had no reason to go in there.”_

_“I thought you were cheating!” Sabrina snapped. “I was looking for proof!”_

_“Bit ironic that I’m going to church where cheating is considered a sin, isn’t it?” he asked with a hint of humor. “I’m converting to Catholicism, Sabrina. With your being a witch, you can understand why I was a bit hesitant to tell you.”_

_“Why?” Sabrina wanted to know. “Why are you suddenly seeking religion?”_

_It felt so out of character for the Harvey she had known. He had never shown much interest in church, in any of the many religions out there. He knew Hell was real. He had met the devil himself. He knew, too, that the False God was real. He had seen angels, touched demons, even witnessed a manifestation of Hecate when she resurrected first Hilda, and later, Sabrina. They had once discussed her worship of Hecate, something she continued despite how little magic she did these days. The goddess had saved her life after all. The least she could do was praise the goddess. Harvey had told her he was content to know that someday, he would go somewhere. He didn’t need to know where or when or how. When Sabrina ventured out to join her aunts and coven in their occasional ritual, he stayed home. He never shown any sort of indication that he might be interested in finding a deity to truly believe in._

_“I’m getting older, Sabrina,” he said in a blunt manner. “I’ll be sixty-one this year. Maybe I’ll live for another twenty, even thirty years, maybe not, but I just feel like I need to believe in something bigger than me at this point in my life. I know what exists. I know all of it – God, Satan, Lilith, Hecate, Heaven, Hell – is all very real. You have your beliefs in Hecate and as I age, it feels important to me that I have something to believe in, too.”_

_“Why Catholicism?” Sabrina continued. “Of all the religions in the world, that’s probably the one that has the most against my kind.”_

_“My mom was Catholic,” Harvey told her. Sabrina remembered that nugget of information from decades ago. “Her whole family was. She took Tommy and I with her to church on Sundays before she died. I’ve been thinking about her a lot. My dad, too.” Mr. Kinkle had died a year earlier at 91 years old. Sabrina had no idea how the man had held on that long. She thought he might of done it for spite. “My dad died without believing in something. Watching him die was horrible. Knowing he was probably going to Hell after the way he lived his life? That he was going to fall under the reign of Lilith? Also horrible. I don’t want to go to Hell, Sabrina. I want to die believing in something softer, lighter, than Lilith or even your Hecate. I want to go to Heaven. Or at least a realm that’s like it.”_

_Sabrina found she had nothing to say. Having been to other realms and even briefly spent time in the Sweet Hereafter before Hecate ripped her back to this plane, she understood his reasoning. It had been hard for him to watch his father die. It had been a long and slow death due to dementia and other old age ailments. He had died in a hospital bed in his living room with Harvey by his side. She had remained in the kitchen during his final hours, waiting for him to pass, whiling away the hours by discreetly conjuring flower petals and snow to fall from the ceiling, an act of rebellion in some ways. Mr. Kinkle had only ever been lukewarm towards her and as his condition worsened, his disdain for her had grown. By the time he died, he had outright despised her. He hadn’t wanted her at his bedside any more than she had wanted to be there. Harvey had taken the death hard however, and she had been of no comfort to him, despite how she had tried. He hadn’t wanted her there._

_Their relationship wasn’t exactly what it used to be._

_“Okay,” she said simply._

_“Okay?” Harvey questioned. “That’s all you have to say?”_

_“What do you want me to say?” Sabrina countered. “That you can’t be a Catholic? I have Hecate. You can have the False God if that’s what you want.”_

_“He’s my God,” Harvey said with a note of warning._

_“Fine.” Sabrina tried to keep her tone neutral. “I’m not mad about you becoming a Catholic. I’m perhaps a bit uncomfortable with it, but you’re uncomfortable with Hecate, so we’ll call it even and allow the other to believe what they want to believe. I’m mad because you didn’t tell me. We’re married, Harvey. This is the kind of thing you tell your wife.”_

_“Well, now you know,” Harvey said._

_“Would you have told me eventually?” she wondered._

_“I honestly don’t know,” Harvey admitted. “You and I… We don’t talk much anymore.”_

_“We certainly don’t.”_

_She made him breakfast, poured him a cup of coffee to go, packed his lunch. She spent her days doing whatever needed to be done – taking care of the house, running errands, sometimes visiting her aunts. She was always home in time to make him dinner and then their evenings were largely spent in silence, him with the TV remote in hand, her pretending to read or else tucked away in any one of the mortuary rooms he wouldn’t venture into, sometimes just sitting alone with her thoughts, other times venting her frustrations to Hecate in a vain attempt to have the goddess help her once more. She had somewhat given up on that though. She supposed Hecate had already done enough, bringing her back from the dead and all. She wasn’t going to intervene in the sad state of affairs Sabrina felt her life had become._

_“I’ll be going to church on Sunday mornings and Bible study on Wednesday evenings,” Harvey told her. “So there’s me talking to you.”_

_“Zelda won’t like that there’s a Bible in her house,” Sabrina warned._

_“I thought this was our house,” Harvey challenged. Sabrina sighed. Harvey’s dream of them having enough money for a place of their own never quite worked out. There was always some other need or some crisis that prevented his savings account from growing. She had quit offering to put forth the money a few years into their marriage. While she was secretly happy she had never had to move out of her childhood home, she knew her calling it ‘Zelda’s house’ was salt in his wounds._

_“It’s our home,” she corrected. “But you know what I mean, Harvey. Hilda will be okay enough with it. But Zelda? She’s going to make your life Heaven – Hell – if she finds out. She may not technically live here, but as the eldest living Spellman, this place is hers.”_

_“We’ll worry about Zelda’s opinion on my Bible when she finds it,” Harvey decided. “I’m too tired to continue to have this discussion. Now I need to go not only take a shower, but go downstairs and find myself something to eat, too, before I can go to bed.”_

_Sabrina couldn’t help but bristle at the mention that there wasn’t a dinner waiting for him. She couldn’t pinpoint when she had fell into the habit of making sure dinner was ready each night, but she had and now Harvey expected it of her. She had tried to be a good wife and this was what she had to show for it – a husband that may as well sleep in another room given how empty her bed felt with him right next to her._

_“I’ll make you a sandwich or something,” she said as she stood. “Ham or turkey?”_

_“Got any roast beef?” Harvey wondered._

_“We do,” Sabrina confirmed._

_“I’m going to shower,” he said. “I’ll be down in a few.” He covered his mouth to cough. He cleared his throat and coughed again._

_“You’re still coughing,” Sabrina observed. “It’s been a few weeks. Longer, maybe.” She thought it might have even been a couple of months at this point._

_“Just a lingering cold,” Harvey dismissed as he unbuckled his belt._

_“You should go to the doctor,” she said anyway. Despite the shambles their marriage was in, there was a part of her that still cared deeply for him, or at least the guy he used to be. “Get checked out. It’s been a few years since you had a checkup.”_

_“I’m fine.”_

_“At least let Hilda…”_

_“I’m fine, Sabrina,” Harvey cut her off. “It’s just a cough.”_

_He exited into the bathroom. Sabrina sighed and picked up the Bible. She studied it for a moment and flipped it open to a random page. A verse was underlined._

You must not permit a sorceress to live. – Exodus 22:18

_Sabrina’s stomach gave an uneasy lurch._

_She closed the book and placed it on Harvey’s nightstand. She pointed a finger at the pile of clothes left in the chair and banished them to the laundry room, figuring a tiny spell to make her life easier was deserved at this point. Before she exited the room, she stood in the doorway and muttered a protective spell over the space._

_Just in case._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

The room was exactly as she had left it when she moved her things out of it right after Harvey passed. It was now no more than an odd sort of accidental shrine to Harvey. She waited for the expected storm of emotions to swirl up like a tornado.

It didn’t happen.

She felt – neutral.

Seeing Harvey’s things didn’t tear at her the way she envisioned it would most widows. She realized as she wandered in that the room didn’t hold a lot of memories for her, not the way her own bedroom down the hall did. Being in her childhood bedroom had brought back memories so real, so vivid she could have sworn they were right there, floating in front of her for her to re-visit, experience all over again. Here, she simply had a job to do.

“Where should we start?” Nick asked. She was aware of his eyes on her, the way he was looking for any sign that she wasn’t okay. It was as comforting as it was annoying. She didn’t know him anymore, but some things about him didn’t seem to have changed.

“Anywhere,” she shrugged.

“You take the nightstand, I’ll take the closet?” Nick proposed.

“Sure,” Sabrina agreed. Nick went for the closet. She settled on the edge of what had been Harvey’s side of the bed. There was a small, neat stack of books. She picked up the first one and noted it was the _Holy Bible_. She flipped through it, remembering that verse he had underlined about sorceresses not being allowed to live. He had made copious more notes throughout it since that first and only time she looked through it. She didn’t stop to read any of them now. “Should we take this with us?” she asked Nick, holding it up for him to see. “He made a lot of notes.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” he agreed. Sabrina put the Bible aside for later. Nick flipped through a few hangers. “He really never got out of the flannel phase, did he?”

“He even wore flannel nightshirts in his last days,” Sabrina confirmed. Nick, his back to Sabrina, made a face at the idea of wearing a nightshirt, let alone a flannel one. The rest of the books Sabrina shuffled through were old comics. Like the flannel, it was one thing about Harvey that stayed the same over the years. His spirometer was there, a couple bottles of half full pills she thought she should probably flush down the toilet. His cell phone, too, was there. “We should take his phone with us too. The battery is dead, but once its charged, it might have something.”

“Not a bad plan,” Nick approved. “There’s not much in the closet aside from clothes and shoes.” He wasn’t entirely surprised. Harvey Kinkle was as boring in death as he had been in life as far as he was concerned. He reached for a cardboard box on the overhead shelf. It was heavier than he expected. He lowered it to the floor and opened it. It was full of sketchpads. He picked up the top one and flipped through it. It was full of various comic book heroes. “I’ll give it to him,” he commented as he flipped the pages. “He was talented with colored pencils.”

“He was,” Sabrina agreed. “He stopped drawing a long time ago though. I asked him about it once. He said it just didn’t interest him anymore.” Nick put the notebook aside and reached for another. “You sure you don’t mind me being here?” This pad, too, held drawings of comics. “This is your – husband’s – stuff.”

Sabrina looked up at him from where she was rummaging through the top drawer of the nightstand. A far as she could tell, it was full of the usual beside the bed trinkets – a flashlight, old chap stick, a few aged, random receipts that she gave a precursory look at before deeming them unimportant. Nick looked pensive as he stood with a sketchpad in hand.

“Does it bother you?” she asked. “Going through Harvey’s things?”

Nick shrugged a bit.

“It’s weird,” he admitted. “Half of my brain recognizes this as a necessary task – a need to find out if there are any ties between the Kinkle lineage and the Sons of Angels. But the other half of my brain…” He trailed off for a moment, debating on just how much to say. He decided to go with the truth. “Well, the other half recognizes that this is your dead husband’s stuff. Given all the history there, it feels a little wrong for me to be the one going through it. It’s certainly odd.”

Sabrina continued to study him. Again, she thought about how she didn’t really know Nick anymore. He had been out of her life for fifty years. But there was a part of her that still trusted him. And unlike everyone else she knew, he hadn’t been there to see how things had unraveled over the last several years. He was a third-party observer in many ways, mostly objective. She took a deep breath.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Anything,” Nick nodded, still flipping through the sketch pad.

“You can’t judge me…”

“I think I’m pretty low on the list of people who get to judge others,” Nick commented, a vague to undeniable reference to the past he had already alluded to.

“This is the kind of thing people definitely judge others for,” she warned him.

“You sound like you’re about to confess to a murder.”

“Not quite, but death is involved.” Nick waited expectantly. Sabrina took a deep breath. “I’m glad Harvey is dead.”

Silence followed.

Sabrina felt relief. She had sort of confessed her feelings to Hilda, but Hilda had viewed it from the angle of Sabrina being relieved her husband no longer suffering. It felt good to confess her dark secret, even if it was to Nick.

“That’s pretty heavy,” he observed.

“It’s awful,” she recognized. “I know that. But it’s how I feel. I know I shouldn’t. I was married to him for forty years and he died a horrible death from a horrible disease. But when he took his final breath, I didn’t feel sad. I felt relieved. It was finally over. The sadness came, but a lot of times I felt like I was acting. The grief wasn’t all encompassing like it was for Hilda when Cee passed. It was a sadness for what was and what could have been but wasn’t. I laid in bed that night – my bed, in my bedroom – and tried to figure out how many times I’d have to wear that damned glamour again before I could give it up for good. I cried myself to sleep – Ambrose slept in the window seat to watch over me – but it wasn’t really tears over his death. It was guilt that I felt so relieved that he was gone.”

Nick sat down next to her. He wanted to reach out a hand to comfort her, but he refrained. He thought there was an odd sort of maybe friendship forming between them and he didn’t want to jeopardize that. Fifty years had passed since it had all fallen apart. They had both changed significantly in that time. They were entirely different people than the kids they had been when they were in love. He had his fair share of regrets, but overall, he was okay with how his life had turned out. He didn’t think things had gone as well for Sabrina. She needed a friend right now and for now, he could be that friend.

“You weren’t happy,” he noted.

“No,” Sabrina admitted. “I wasn’t.” She picked at the scratchy comforter. “I’m not.” He couldn’t not reach for her hand now. She let him take it, but she avoided eye contact. She used her free hand to wipe away a tear. “I’m spilling all of my secrets today.”

“It’s not hard to tell you aren’t happy,” Nick admitted. “I’m sorry things didn’t turn out the way you wanted them to.”

His sympathy was genuine, but he thought he did a decent job at hiding how much he guilt he felt that she had ever fallen into unhappiness in the first place.”

“It wasn’t always miserable,” Sabrina shared. “It was good for a while. The first fifteen or twenty or so years were good.” She glanced at him, remembered who he was, who he had been to her. “You don’t want to hear about this…”

“I think you need to talk about it,” Nick ventured. “I’m willing to listen.”

Again, Sabrina found herself in awe of Nick. He was just so different, so sure of himself. Solid and steady. Just the simple act of him holding her hand gave her a sense of strength.

“The day before I turned sixteen, Ambrose warned me this would happen. He told me a veil would fall once I became a full witch and I would forget the mortals, or at least I would want to. He warned me it would be hard, watching them grow old and die while I stayed young. I was so desperate to hold onto that part of my life that I wouldn’t hear of it. But then I found myself living in a glamour, living a complete and utter lie. It wasn’t the watching them grow old and die part that was hard, although that wasn’t easy. It was how much things changed, how I changed by trying to be something I wasn’t, to fit in to a place that wasn’t really meant for me.” She shook her head. “I’m a witch, Nick. I tried to be a mortal, but I just couldn’t do it.”

Nick was sure there was far more to the story, but he knew she had also shared more than she had with anyone in a long time. He felt gratitude that she trusted him enough to confide in him.

“You are a witch,” he agreed. “You can’t change who you are, Sabrina.”

“You did.”

She said the words before she thought about them. When they were out there, she couldn’t take them back. She waited to see how he would respond, if he even understood what she meant. Nick formed his reply carefully.

“I made a lot of mistakes,” he said carefully. “But I’m a warlock, Sabrina. That’s who I am. That’s my identity. While I perhaps changed my behavior and became what I hope is a better version of who I was way back when, I didn’t change who I am at my core.”

“I suppose not,” Sabrina sighed. Despite his maturity, she could see hints of the Nick she had known. It was in some of his mannerisms, the way he always seemed to have a book in hand, the quick wit that came out of him when he was in conversation. He had only improved himself, not changed his core being. It was too much for her to think about right then, especially with him sitting beside her. She leaned forward and shuffled through some of Harvey’s belongings. “There’s not much in the nightstand.” Nick pursed his lips. She was done talking about her relationship it seemed. Yet, she still held his hand. “I’m going to move on to the dresser.”

“I’m going to keep digging through this box,” he said as he released her hand. “See if it holds anything.”

They worked in quiet for several minutes. The dresser was empty, just as she had thought it would be. It had held her clothing and she had cleaned it out the morning after Harvey’s death to move her things in her room. Nick systematically went through the box of sketchpads. He flipped through each of them, deeming each one less important than the last until he reached a smaller one that had been crammed in sideways while the others were stacked. He noted it looked newer, the pages lacking the yellowing of age the others had. He flipped open the cover.

“Whoa.”

A scene that had to have been from the Bible took up the first page. He recognized it. It was the end of the world as told in the Book of Revelations, all fire, death, and destruction.

“What?” Sabrina questioned. Nick flipped the page. This, too, depicted a religious scene.

“Harvey didn’t give up drawing,” he said. “Perhaps he did for a while, but he must have resumed it.” Sabrina came to stand by him so she could see the sketches. She smelled liked wildflowers. Still. He kept flipping the pages. “All of these are scenes from the _Book of the False God_. Some are peaceful, like the birth of Jesus. Others show death and destruction.”

“They’re a little messier than his others,” Sabrina observed. “And it was only the last handful of years that he was a devout Catholic. He died at sixty-seven, converted when he was sixty.”

“You didn’t notice him drawing?” Nick wondered. These images hadn’t been hastily drawn, even if they weren’t as precise as the comic book creations. They were still detailed, intricate. They had taken time.

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. “But we weren’t exactly living in wedded bliss those last years. I didn’t pay much attention to where he was or what he was doing so long as he wasn’t bothering me.”

“We’ll take this with us too,” he decided. He added it to their growing pile.

The rest of the closet turned up empty. Sabrina rummaged through the chest of drawers which only held some of Harvey’s clothing while Nick searched first the bookshelf, then places around the room she wouldn’t have thought to look. He checked the vents, attempted to pull at floorboards in case they were loose, even checked for a hidden door Sabrina insisted didn’t exist. She was correct. She finished looking through a chest at the end of the bed that held only blankets.

“Anywhere else in the house we should look?” Nick asked.

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. “For better or worse, Harvey never spread out, so to speak. I think this bedroom was the one place in the mortuary where he felt like he belonged, given that both my aunts and Ambrose lived here on and off over the years too. But there’s the Kinkle house?”

“Let’s go,” Nick agreed. He took a moment to do a quick spell to send the few things they had collected from the bedroom to the Academy for later, then extended his hand. She took it and again felt that surge of fire through her. “I’ll teleport us this time.”

“No,” Sabrina informed him. “I will.”

They reappeared at the edge of the woods of the Kinkle house. It was near collapse. It had clearly been empty for years. As far as he was concerned, it was the perfect place to hide things one didn’t want found.

Sabrina, showing more signs of the brave witch he once knew, started towards the house. He made to follow her, intending to check to make sure they were alone as they walked, but movement to the right of the house where an old barn stood caught his eye. He grabbed Sabrina around her waist and drew her back into the woods.

“Nick!” she protested. “What…”

“Shh,” he hissed. His free hand moved to cover her mouth. She tried to push him off. “The barn,” he whispered in her ear. “Look.”

He lowered his hand and Sabrina looked to the barn. She could see two men, rough and burley, loitering around in the open door. One look at their clothing told her they weren’t from Greendale – or anywhere nearby. She looked to Nick to ask his opinion, but he held his finger up to his lips, indicating she should be quiet. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened up the camera app. He zoomed in as much as he could and snapped several photos. He took a few more of the house.

“The curtain moved,” Sabrina whispered. “Someone’s in the house.”

They watched from the woods as a third man emerged from the house and started towards the barn. The back of his jacket was emblazoned with the Sons of Angeles symbol.

“Time to go,” Nick decided. He put his arm around Sabrina again and they reappeared on the Academy steps. He kept his arm around her until they were safely inside the Academy. “You okay?” he asked, observing her for any sign that she wasn’t.

“My dead husband is apparently connected to violent witch hunters, but I’m fine,” she said, her thoughts racing. “It doesn’t make sense…”

She couldn’t believe that Harvey would put her or her family in danger. Not after all of this time, not after she had trusted him with her family’s secret for nearly her entire life. Things hadn’t been good between them in the end, but she had still been there. He had even told her he loved her the morning he died and thanked her for always being there.

“There’s still no proof that Harvey is connected to them,” Nick reminded her as though he could read her mind. “They could have simply gotten wind of his death and came themselves. They may have even stumbled across the Kinkle house out of sheer coincidence once they got wind of a coven of witches in Greendale and took up residence in a place no one would come calling. There’s no evidence Harvey’s lineage drew them here.”

Sabrina took a deep breath.

“I guess.” She didn’t sound convinced. They had left their symbol on a fence post at the Spellman mortuary after all. Nick’s reasoning may have been logical, but she knew in her gut Harvey Kinkle was connected to the Sons of Angels. “What do we do now?”

“We report back to Ambrose and Zelda, then we go through what we found at the mortuary.” He gave her a stern look. “We do not go back to the Kinkle residence, the mortuary, or the mines. Especially not by ourselves.”

She glared at him.

“I’m a little smarter than I was fifty years ago, Nicholas.”

“Are you though?” Nick countered. “This is the exact kind of situation that has driven you to make rash decisions in the past.”

“I’m not trying to piss off a bunch of already pissed off witch hunters,” she informed him.

“See to it that you don’t,” Nick stated. “We know where they’re staying now. We have an advantage, but I can guarantee you they’re well protected.” He didn’t dare put more detail into the theory already forming in his mind. The witch hunters didn’t have their brand of magical protection, but he had no doubt there were holy relics around the perimeter of the Kinkle home that would keep them out – all of them except Sabrina. That thought alone terrified him. He was certain she would come to the same conclusion if his theory proved correct. “I sent the things we found at the mortuary to my office. Let’s go find Ambrose, then go through them.”

“Fine,” Sabrina agreed. They started up the stairs. “You recognize you can’t go after them on your own too, don’t you?”

“Why would I do that?” he asked.

“They killed your parents,” she said bluntly. “Now they’re threatening your coven.” She frowned a bit. “If this is still your coven.”

“I want my revenge,” he admitted. “And I’ll have it. As for this coven…” He shrugged. “I’ve considered myself covenless for a long time. But I’m a part of this Academy now.” He offered no more, but he knew, deep down, that he had always considered the Church of Hecate his home. Even on the other side of the world. “Head to my office,” he directed Sabrina. “I’m going to get Ambrose. I’ll be right there.”

They parted ways.

In his office, Sabrina couldn’t help herself. She looked around, trying to get a read on Nick, her curiosity about him bubbling as she spent more time with him. She was quick to note his office was devoid of any personal artifacts. There were no photos, no knickknacks that spoke of him. There were books, though. Lots of them. Demons, conjuring, binding, mythology, history, medicine. They were organized by subject, lined up neatly on shelves. His desk was neat, papers stacked tidily and held down by a nondescript paperweight. There was nothing readily available that told her anything more about him.

She heard him and Ambrose in the hall and hurried to settle into one of his office chairs to look as though she hadn’t been snooping.

“Looks like there’s finally something exciting for us to do,” Ambrose greeted as he breezed in. He dropped into the chair next to Sabrina as Nick took his seat behind the desk. “Let’s take down some witch hunters, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was - a lot. Sabrina opened up a lot to Nick and we got a flashback into why Harvey chose to find religion. I started thinking about how odd it must be for the mortals in this universe that know beyond a doubt that Heaven, Hell, and all of its occupants actually exist. How do they process that? How do they choose what to believe? Harvey's been wrestling with this for many years, but his father's death was what pushed him over the edge. Grief makes you do seemingly crazy things.
> 
> We'll get more of Harvey in flashbacks. We'll learn more too about what happened all those years ago and get into Nick's last 50 years too. I incorporated bits of Part 4 in where it made sense, but this is still largely "a lot of that didn't happen." 
> 
> And oh yeah, they found the witch hunters' digs and Nick's probably not wrong to worry about those relics and Sabrina.
> 
> I'm really enjoying sharing this story with you all and hope you're enjoying reading it. It gets a little less grey each update and I hope you can find some empathy for these older characters. They've been through a lot. ❤️
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this one!


	6. You Only Need To Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about a Nick-centric chapter?

“Ask him!”

“You ask him!”

“You lost the bet – you have to ask him!”

“But…”

“Ask him!”

Nick sighed and turned away from the blackboard where he had been diagramming a simple chart on the levels of demons for his intro to demonology class.

“Would one of the two of you please ask me whatever the Heaven you’d like to ask me and quit disturbing my class?” The two boys, Trevor and Mohan, looked like deer in headlights at being caught. “Neither of you are especially adept at whispering, a skill you may want to work on should you have any intentions of talking amongst yourselves during class.”

Or, he added to himself, pursuing a life of crime as neither one of them had shown him any sign that they were capable of learning anything useful.

“Oh, um…” Trevor looked to Mohan. Mohan’s eyes were the size of saucers. “Mohan! Ask him…” Mohan shook his head. “You lost a bet…”

“If you lost a bet, the only noble thing to do is pay up,” Nick stated. He moved around to the front of his desk, crossed his arms, and perched on the edge of it. The entire class was at attention now, all of them watching as Brother Scratch held the two boys within his sights. He knew he was gaining a reputation as a good but strict teacher. He didn’t much care what his students thought of him, so long as they learned something. “Ask me whatever you’re supposed to ask me, Mohan. I’d like to get on with the rest of class and you’re holding me up. Remember, the less I get through today, the more reading you will have assigned tonight. So really, the longer you take to use your words, the more your fellow classmates will suffer.”

The class muttered, encouraging him to speak up. Mohan only looked more afraid. His mouth started to move, but it took a few more moments for words to form.

“Brother Scratch… Is it… True…” He paused and took a deep breath. “Is it true that you’ve been to Hell?”

Nick sighed. He had been waiting for this question. Zelda had said it well when she had him cornered at Dorian’s. His experience as a teenager made him as much myth as legend. But even fifty years later, it wasn’t something he was willing to openly discuss.

“It’s true,” he confirmed. “It is, however, not something that is a part of our curriculum, demons or not.”

“What was it like?” another brave student asked. “Will you tell us?”

“It was Hell,” he informed them. “Use your imaginations and perhaps read a book about the days of the Dark Lord’s rule.”

“But…”

“It’s not something we will discuss in my classroom,” Nick cut the student off. He thought of Sabrina. She was presiding over study halls now and he imagined this line of questioning would quickly spread throughout the school and make her a fair target. “It’s not something to be discussed, period. I strongly recommend that you not bring it up with myself or any others who may have been a part of the Dark Lord’s fall, lest you be sent to the witch’s chamber for a night.”

“Those chambers haven’t been used in years,” another student spoke up.

“You sure about that?” Nick countered with a look that made the kid reconsider his belief that the dungeons were no longer used. They weren’t, but Nick figured it wouldn’t hurt to make his class question that belief. “Now that we’ve established that I have been to Hell and it won’t be discussed, let’s return to the topic at hand, shall we?”

He turned back to the blackboard and resumed his diagram, but he could feel his heart thundering in his chest. Fifty years had passed, and the threat of the Dark Lord was long gone, but once in a while, the memories of that time worked their way from the recesses of his mind. Those were dark days. Days he didn’t want to revisit.

Days that he wanted to stay far, far in his past.

Except the past had a way of coming back to haunt him.

_*****FLASHBACK***** _

_It was beautiful in Bali._

_He had chosen the island on a whim, eager to get away, clear his head, reset. He had meant to go to Africa and embed himself in a tribe that needed his skills as a doctor, but a travel magazine featuring the tropical paradise on its cover caught his eye as he strolled down the street. The next thing he knew, he had left the drab of Germany for the tropics of Bali._

_Except it was raining today._

_Somehow, it was more beautiful in the rain, at least to him._

_He settled at a café table under an overhang, content to waste the afternoon reading while he sipped from a mug of coffee. He had been at it for an hour or more when a shadow fell over his page. He looked up to find an elderly man standing at his table, looking down at him with intent. His brown skin was wrinkled, his mustache and what little hair he had as white as snow. Nick lowered his book and met the man’s eyes._

_“Can I help you?”_

_“No, but I can help you.”_

_Nick cocked his head a bit._

_“I’m sorry?”_

_“I can help you,” he repeated. “You carry a lot of darkness. I can help.”_

_“I’m fine,” Nick assured him. “Just enjoying a quiet afternoon.” His comment was pointed. The man didn’t falter._

_“You’re not. You’ve tried to be. It’s not working.”_

_Nick felt uncomfortable._

_“With all due respect, sir, you don’t know me and I’m not in the mood for conversation.”_

_The man merely smiled._

_“You will come to me,” he assured Nick. “When you’re ready.”_

_He drifted away. Nick watched him go until he had disappeared from sight, a strange mix of unease and curiosity churning in the pit of his stomach. He was pulled from his observations by the arrival of his waitress with a refill._

_“I see Pak Rai has taken an interest in you,” she commented._

_“Was that his name?” Nick asked._

_“He’s a healer,” the waitress answered. “He has worked miracles. People come from all around the world to be healed by him.”_

_“And?” Nick wondered._

_“And it seems he sees something in you that needs healing.” She poured his coffee and continued on to the next table. Nick tried to return to his book, but he found he couldn’t concentrate. The man – Pak Rai, he repeated to himself – had left him unsettled. Intrigued._

_He tried to dismiss the man’s appearance. He spent the next two days exploring Bali and trying to forget the past, focus on the future. Except he couldn’t. He couldn’t forget the strange man, nor could he force the past to stay there now that it had been roused once more._

_It wasn’t hard to find Pak Rai. A casual question to another waitress at another restaurant later, he was standing outside of a small hut. Its yard was full of metal statues and healing emblems, some of which appeared religious in nature. Nick hesitated, not sure if his warlock nature would be allowed past the gate._

_“Your magic will not stop you.”_

_Again, Pak Rai seemed to appear out of nowhere. This time, he stood in the shadows of his hut’s lean to. Nick eyes widened. The healer chuckled._

_“I know what you are,” he said. “Come.”_

_He turned and disappeared deeper into the lean-to. Nick followed at a slow pace, unsure of what he was walking into. His senses were heightened as he stepped inside. The sunlight seemed to have been snuffed out just inside the entrance. The place was set up with floor cushions and low benches. Soft candles lit the space. An assortment of healing and ceremonial tools lined one side._

_“Have a seat,” Pak Rai directed._

_Nick wasn’t sure where, nor if he wanted to, but he did so anyway, choosing a fuchsia-colored floor cushion to lower himself to. Pak Rai settled onto a low bench nearby._

_“Nicholas Scratch.”_

_Nick frowned._

_“How do you know my name?”_

_“Spirit told me you would come.” Pak Rai lit some sage and let it burn. “Your life is young, yet you carry many years of pain.”_

_That was hard to argue with. He had lost his parents as a child, been to Hell as a teenager, lost the love of his life twice, watched her die and come back to life too many times._

_Never mind the complications of the last few weeks._

_“You run,” Pak Rai continued. “In order to heal, you must stop running.”_

_“I don’t run,” Nick protested. It was a weak argument, even to his own ears._

_“You do,” the man said simply. “You just ran from a good, healthy, relationship, did you not?”_

_Nick’s frown deepened._

_“How do you know all of this?” he questioned. “Are you some sort of clairvoyant?”_

_“I’m a healer,” Pak Rai answered. “I know what Spirit wants me to know. Spirit wants me to help you heal. But you must stop running to heal. You must face your past.”_

_Nick’s discomfort grew. Pak Rai seemed to see inside of him. While he had grown a lot over the last near fifty years, he still carried a lot of pain deep inside of him, still struggled with letting people get too close._

_“I’m a warlock,” he said. “I have a long life ahead of me. My past only gets farther in the past._

_“It doesn’t.”_

_Nick couldn’t argue. Certain parts of his past seemed to be right there in front of him nearly always, so close he could reach out and touch them, no matter how much time separated him from it._

_“You return to the past often, do you not?” Pak Rai continued._

_“I suppose,” Nick answered. He didn’t even try to lie. Try as he may, he seemed to always find a way to dig up the past._

_“You have suffered,” he continued. “Yet, it’s not your time spent in the underworld that affects you. It is the loss of loved ones.” Nick’s discomfort continued to grow. “Your soul has been marked to learn hard lessons. Those lessons are often found in love and loss. Your losses are meant to help you love. Instead, you push love away.”_

_“I don’t…”_

_“You walked away from your soulmate.”_

_Nick’s head snapped up._

_“Not the recent connection,” Pak Rai shook his head. “Although they, too, were put in your path to teach you a soul lesson. No, this soulmate, she continues to hold a great place in your heart. You have many regrets where she is concerned.”_

_Nick bowed his head once more._

_“I’ve made mistakes,” he offered, eyes on his hands which rested one on each knee._

_“You have. You can correct them. If you face your past.”_

_“How do I do that?” Nick heard himself asking. He had certainly tried over the years._

_“You return.”_

_Nick lifted his head to look at the man._

_“I return?”_

_“I think you will find your return is necessary.” Nick wished Pak Rai didn’t talk in such twisted rhymes. “You will find happiness. And bring happiness.”_

_“I don’t understand.”_

_“You will.” Pak Rai struck a match and lit another candle. Its flame burned bright blue. “You know what to do, Nicholas Scratch. All that’s left is for you to do it.” Pak Rai bowed his head in silent prayer. Nick didn’t move, sensing he wasn’t supposed to. He sat and observed, expecting something to happen. It didn’t. Several minutes passed before Pak Rai lifted his head and opened his eyes. He blew out the candle. “That is all.”_

_Nick raised an eyebrow._

_“That’s all?” he repeated._

_“It is.”_

_“A bit anticlimactic.”_

_“So you assume,” Pak Rai nodded once. “But it is all.”_

_“So I… Should go?” Nick clarified._

_“You may stay.” Pak Rai stood. “But we are done.” Pak Rai walked towards the sunshine pouring into the open part of the lean to. Nick thought it was somehow brighter now that their session was over. Pak Rai stopped and turned back to Nick, lit by the sun. “Good luck, Nicholas Scratch.”_

_Nick watched him disappear._

_He exhaled a long breath once he was alone._

_Return, Pak Rai had said._

_If only it was that easy._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

Nick remained convinced Mohan and his counterpart Trevor were both bound for a life of organized witch crime as he graded the quiz he had given on the hierarchy of demons. It was a petty move, to pull a pop quiz the day after their questions about his time in Hell, but he had been annoyed enough at them to make the whole class suffer.

It had been a rough twenty-four hours. After the questions about his time in Hell, he had found it hard to concentrate for the rest of day, so much so he had assigned his last class reading to do and had merely sat at his desk, idly doodling and making himself reminders about tasks he needed to accomplish, simple things like ‘laundry’ and ‘pay phone bill,’ anything to keep his thoughts from traveling too far from the present.

From there, he had retired to his office where he tried to make sense of the notes Harvey had made in his Bible. So far, from what he could tell, the farm boy turned miner had simply underlined verses he liked and more or less re-wrote them in the margins. He hadn’t expected much – Harvey had never struck him as the intellectual type, religious or otherwise.

He hadn’t slept well, his dreams not vivid but haunted all the same. Hilda had made one of his favorites for breakfast however – French toast – and the petty act of surprising his intro to demonology class with a pop quiz made him feel better. He thought the day might be looking up, that he might be able to shake his melancholy and be productive.

“What are the odds that I can bring someone back from the dead, just to kill them again?”

Ambrose appeared in his office doorway. The normally collected warlock looked like he was prepared to rip someone limb from limb.

“It’s doable but not advised,” Nick replied, sitting back in his chair. “You’ll recall a certain witch tried something similar once and it didn’t end well. Who are you planning to raise from the dead in the name of committing a homicide?”

“Harvey fucking Kinkle.”

He threw something on Nick’s desk and sat down hard in one of the chairs. It was Harvey’s iPhone. Nick reached for it.

“Tell me more,” he prompted.

“Read his fucking text messages.” Ambrose was seething. “That bastard…”

Nick glanced at Ambrose, concerned by the anger he saw, then turned his attention to the phone. He hadn’t seen it since they brought it back from the mortuary three days earlier. Sabrina had been tasked with charging the phone and unlocking it. The security settings had been turned off and he could scroll through it freely now. He went straight for the texts. The most recent messages were to someone named – Gabriel.

You’ve done the right thing, brother Kinkle. May you rest in peace knowing you chose good over evil in the end. You will reap your reward on the other side.

The text had come in the hours immediately after Harvey’s death, as though meant to be a goodbye of sorts. It sent a sinking feeling through Nick’s stomach, one that grew as he read the messages in reverse.

Harvey Kinkle, in all of his religious glory, had sold out the Spellmans in his final days.

To the Sons of Angels.

“I take it back,” Nick said as rage to match Ambrose’s burned through him. “Fuck the rules. Fuck balance. Let’s bring that son of a bitch back and murder him.”

Neither of them would actually do it but talking about it made him feel better.

“I can’t fucking believe him,” Ambrose raged. “After everything we did for that bastard while he was dying a death I now believe wasn’t cruel enough for what he deserved…”

“Sabrina has seen these.” It wasn’t a question. He knew she had. “How is she?”

“Devastated,” Ambrose answered. “She brought this to me this morning, apparently spent all of last night reading them over and over again. It took her a long while to guess the passcode. Want to know what it was?” His eyes glittered with vengeance. “Roz’s birthday.”

“What was his relationship with Roz like after I left?” Nick wondered. “She died how long ago? Ten years, right?”

“Eleven now,” Ambrose corrected. “He and Roz stayed together another year or so, then broke up once they all graduated and Roz went off to college. He and Sabrina grew closer then, given they were both still here in Greendale. The group remained friendly – all of them, Theo and Robin too – but there was distance there, given that Sabrina and Harvey were together again. The three of them became closer again after Theo died, but Roz was more Sabrina’s friend than Harvey’s during that time.”

“Interesting choice of a passcode,” Nick said, noting that connection as something to look into. “And Roz – what happened to her? Sabrina mentioned she died in her sleep.”

“For all intents and purposes, yes, she died in her sleep.” Ambrose shifted around in her chair. “I always thought it was a bit suspect. She was a witch, after all. She should have lived a long, long time. But I examined the body myself when I received word from Zelda. Came back from traversing across Thailand to do it. Zelda was suspicious too, you see. It’s like she just decided to die.”

“Roz always was more centered than the rest of it,” Nick recalled. Roz had seemed to carry around a certain peace that alluded the rest of them. He thought it was because of her time believing first in the False God, and then in Hecate. He waved the phone. “What did Sabrina say when she brought this to you?”

“Not much,” Ambrose sighed. “She put the phone on my desk, said ‘Harvey did it,’ and burst into tears. I haven’t delivered the news to Zelda yet – she’s been in meetings all morning – but I suspect she’ll want to burn something down when she finds out. I left Sabrina with Hilda and came straight here. The only good thing that’s come out of this finding is that Hilda no longer thinks her precious Harvey walked on water.”

“He turned in his wife to violent witch hunters,” Nick shook his head in disbelief. He kept scrolling, not really reading the texts now as he tried to process this new information. “Sabrina only ever loved him.” He looked to Ambrose. “Anything else on this thing?”

“Plenty,” Ambrose confirmed. “I’ll leave it with you to look through. I’d suggest reading the rest of his texts as well as looking through his search history.” He leaned forward, his elbow on his knees. “I’m mad, Scratch. I’ve been pissed off before, but this… This is a rage I’ve never felt.”

Nick said nothing. He, too, was livid. But he knew rage. He had experience with it. He knew how desperate it could make someone. The idea of four Spellmans filled with hot rage and after revenge was a terrifying prospect. He had to keep his head about him, even if he didn’t want to, even if he wanted to assist Ambrose in resurrecting Harvey and then torturing him with the longest, most painful death they could come up with. If he didn’t keep his head, who knew what would happen.

“We know where the Sons of Angels are hiding,” he reminded Ambrose. “I don’t think they know we know. That’s an advantage. We’re going to be able to trace Kinkle’s connection to them and get to the root of all of this. We’ll decimate the Sons of Angels. They won’t harm another coven when we’re done with them. But you cannot, under any circumstance, do something stupid.”

“How many times have you said that to a Spellman?” Ambrose wondered.

“Twice in the last forty-eight hours,” Nick quipped. “But seriously, Ambrose. I know what it’s like to be rage-filled. I know what it’s like to want revenge. Heaven, I have my own score to settle with the Sons, one that goes back some sixty years. But they’re not your average witch hunters. We’re going to need a very good plan before we go after them.”

Ambrose studied Nick. Nick waited, sensing that he was thinking long and hard about what he was about to say. Finally, the warlock blew out a breath.

“I’m just going to say it,” he announced. “I’ve been thinking it for a very long time, and it’s been on the tip of my tongue since the day you showed up for Kinkle’s funeral. You should have never walked away from her, Scratch. I know you think you did the noble thing, that you think you’ve done the noble thing by staying away these last fifty years. But I’m calling bullshit on the whole idea of nobility. You should have stayed here. You should have never allowed Kinkle a chance to win her over.”

Nick said nothing. He had wrestled with similar thoughts in recent days as he learned more about Sabrina and how she had spent most of the last five decades. He knew there was no point in thinking ‘what if,’ but he couldn’t stop himself from going down that path.

“I did what I thought was right,” he offered. “For both of us.”

“Bullshit,” Ambrose said again. “You did what you thought was right for her. I’ll give you that. But you absolutely did not do what was best for yourself.” Nick couldn’t argue. Perhaps he could have twenty, even thirty years ago. But he had long ago accepted that he had, once again, sacrificed himself for Sabrina Spellman. “Did you know she thinks the bundle of wildflowers that appears on her birthday every year comes from her mother? Her dead mother. It makes no sense to me that she thinks after seventeen years of nothing, her mother suddenly decided to start leaving her flowers from the beyond on her eighteenth birthday and every year since. I’ve never had the heart to tell her otherwise. But trust me, I’ve wanted to. Especially in these few years I’ve been back in Greendale and saw just how bad it was for her.”

“How did you know?” Nick asked, not quite able to make eye contact.

“I saw you about twenty-five years ago now,” Ambrose admitted. “I’d just arrived in town for a short visit and jet lag kept me from sleeping. I was awake, enjoying a cuppa and the quiet. I happened to be gazing out the window and I saw you materialize at the edge of the woods. I stood back so you wouldn’t see me and watched as you approached the house. You climbed the stairs quiet as a mouse, left the bouquet, and disappeared once more.”

Nick said nothing. There was nothing he could say. He had, in fact returned to Greendale in the early morning hours of October 31st every year for the last fifty years and left an unmarked bouquet of the flowers that would forever remind him of Sabrina Spellman. He had tried in vain to get over her, to move on. He had dated, had other relationships, all brief, all haunted by a ghost of the girl he had loved with all he had and never been able to let go. He hadn’t been able to shake her though.

And now he was in Greendale and she was free from the mortal he had mistakenly entrusted her to. She was damaged and wounded and he blamed himself for that.

“You could make her happy, Nicholas,” Ambrose said. “Just in the couple of months you’ve been here, she’s already shown more signs of being herself than she has in a while, doing magic again, showing some of her fight. You’ve always loved her for who she is. That’s what she really needed all these years. Not for you to disappear and open the door for Harvey Kinkle to re-take his place by her side. For you to be there to love her for the witch she is.”

Ambrose stood, eyes still on Nick.

“Don’t tell her about the flowers,” Nick requested.

“I won’t,” Ambrose promised. “But I think you should. I think you should admit to her – and to yourself, too – that you still love her.” Nick didn’t have to admit it to himself. He had always known he loved her. Ambrose paused in Nick’s door on his way out. “All she’s wanted for the last forty years is to be a mother. Kinkle wouldn’t give her that. He didn’t give her the love or the family she deserves. I want her to have that, Scratch. She deserves it, so very much so. And I’m not afraid to say I hope to Heaven you’re willing to be the one that gives her her heart’s desires. Because I’m pretty sure they match up with your own.”

Ambrose left, leaving Nick with Kinkle’s phone and a head full of thoughts. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his face roughly, wondering not for the first time how he had found himself tangled up in this mess once more.

Willingly.

That was how.

He could have told Zelda no. He could have teleported away instead of showing up at Dorian’s to meet Ambrose. He could have stuck to the plan and gotten out of town as he had planned, gone back to Papua New Guinea and resumed his work there.

But he had stayed.

He had returned, just like Pak Rai said he should, even if it took him nearly a year to do so.

He had stayed because he had spent the last fifty years looking for a way back, even as he tried to resist the pull. It had been like being caught in a never-ending rip tide and swimming parallel to the shore with no chance at getting back to land. No matter where he had been in the world nor who had been with, Greendale continued to beckon him home until he finally gave in.

Had he known how Sabrina was truly living, had he had even an inkling during any one of his briefest of visits that she wasn’t happy, he was sure he would have returned far sooner. He had thought he made the right choice back then. He had always said he wouldn’t have changed anything, but he knew now that was an utter lie. If he had known what would unfold, he would have stayed.

But he was here now. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not again.

Alive, Harvey had slowly stripped Sabrina of the life she had thought she would have when she said ‘I do.’ Now dead, he was trying to take the very breath out of her.

He wouldn’t allow it.

He wouldn’t allow Harvey Kinkle to harm Sabrina any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nick was in Bali after a major life event. We'll find out more about that very soon. And look at him, showing up to bring Sabrina flowers every year. We'll dig more into Harvey's final days too, make the driving forces behind his decisions make more sense. We haven't seen the last of Nick's little troublemakers either. 
> 
> I wrote this before Part 4, but as I edit each chapter, I find myself changing things to add in some components of Part 4 where they make sense. Like Roz being a witch. 
> 
> Next update, it's dinnertime. ;) 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading - your comments make my day all the days! Let me know what you thought of this one!


	7. Cooking Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Talk of desiring a baby in the below update.

Sabrina stood in front of the open fridge and took in its contents. She wasn’t especially hungry – her appetite had virtually disappeared since discovering what Harvey’s phone held in the early morning hours of the day before – but it was past dinnertime and she needed to eat. Nothing looked good, however.

“You better not let Hilda catch you with that fridge door open.” Sabrina looked over her shoulder as Nick entered the kitchen. “She’ll swear you’re ruining her fresh vegetables or something.”

“It’s Hilda’s night off,” she reminded him. “We’re responsible for our own dinner.”

It was a boundary Hilda had set years ago. She took Saturdays and Wednesdays off from preparing food for the Academy. On those days, students largely fended for themselves, save for the younger ones which ate whatever Zelda managed to procure from local restaurants in one fashion or another.

“I’m well aware,” Nick said. “I’m also well aware that Zelda brought in turkey sandwiches with a side of potato chips for the younger ones from some questionable sandwich shop in Riverdale. I think I’ll pass on that.”

“Hence why I’m here,” Sabrina said, turning back to the contents of the fridge. “Except I can’t find anything that sounds appealing.”

Nick stood beside her and scanned the fridge’s contents. His eyes landed on what he wanted.

“Like shrimp?” he asked as he reached past her to grab the bag of fresh shrimp he had picked up at the market earlier for his own dinner. Sabrina shrugged.

“I guess.”

“No ‘I guess,’” Nick shook his head. He wanted the definitive answer he knew she had. She had gotten too used to yielding to her former husband’s desires. “Yes or no.”

“I mean, yes,” Sabrina nodded. “I just haven’t had it in a while.” Harvey hadn’t liked shrimp, so she never cooked it.

“Good. We’re having tacos.”

He walked away, shrimp in hand. Sabrina looked after him in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re having tacos,” he repeated. “Shrimp tacos with a siracha slaw to be exact. I’ve been planning this meal all day and lucky for you, I’m willing to share.”

Sabrina continued to look at him.

“You’re cooking,” she stated.

“I am,” Nick confirmed. She watched him maneuver around the kitchen, taking out things like he belonged there. “And I’m sharing the spoils of my labor with you. Shut the fridge door. I’m trying to save the produce order I know Hilda picked up this morning.”

He had run into Hilda at the market. Neither of them was supposed to be out of the Academy, but Hilda didn’t trust anyone else to pick out her produce and Nick had decided he wanted shrimp tacos. He had been surprised to run into her while he searched for the cabbage he needed. They exchanged a moment of surprise before each confessed to their obvious breaking of the rules. He had offered to help her with her grocery run, she accepted, and they made it back to the Academy safe and sound. He noted she was noticeably nicer to him than she had been in recent weeks while they shopped.

“Do you – know how to cook?” Sabrina asked. She took a couple of steps towards the large kitchen island where he was setting up his workstation.

“I taught myself,” he told her. “I got tired of eating crap takeout and hospital cafeteria food while I was in med school and doing my residency, so whenever I was home, I cooked for myself. It’s not all that hard to follow a recipe.” He smiled. “It turns out, those cooking shows the mortals like are kind of soothing while also educational.”

“They do have a calming effect,” Sabrina agreed. She had certainly watched plenty of them, both during Harvey’s illness and in recent weeks. “Do you need some help?”

Nick glanced at her. She looked uncomfortable and he damned Harvey to the Hell he hoped he was in. She was used to being the one preparing meals for someone else. He should have recognized it that first time he found her in the kitchen, when she tried to jump up and make him a plate of leftovers. She was used to being the caretaker. He decided she wouldn’t lift a finger that night.

“Nope. This is all me. Sit down, keep me company while I work.”

“I don’t mind helping…”

“Sabrina, I’ve got it,” he was firm but gentle. “Have a seat.”

“I’m going to pour myself something to drink,” she said after a beat. “Can I at least offer to do the same for you?”

That, Nick decided, was doable. And, he thought, it might make her feel more comfortable to do _something_.

“Sure,” he agreed. “Whatever you pour yourself is fine.”

He busied himself with peeling and deveining the shrimp while she poured two glasses of tea. She sat down across from where he was working and slid a glass his way. She watched as his knife moved with easy precision. She made a face as he used the tip of the paring knife to neatly pull out a long black vein.

“That’s disgusting,” she said as Nick wiped his knife blade on a paper towel and picked up another shrimp.

“It’ll be worth it in the end,” he promised. He glanced at her as he worked and decided to continue his approach of being direct with her. “How are you doing, Sabrina? I know the last few days have been tough.”

This was the first time he had seen her since discovering what was on Harvey’s phone two days earlier. Some of that was on purpose. After Ambrose left his office, he had locked himself in and spent hours going through the phone. There was still plenty of holes, but from what he had pieced together through texts, emails, and search history, Harvey had connected with the Sons of Angels through his church which wasn’t the Catholic church in Greendale, but in Riverdale. Harvey had hemmed and hawed for weeks, hinting to Gabriel and others that he had information to share before finally confessing his wife was a witch. From what Nick had deciphered, Father Gabriel wasn’t in the Sons of Angels, but he was the connection that put Harvey in touch with them.

The phone also held a number of photos and videos of the Spellmans and coven doing magic. Sabrina was rarely featured, but she was videoed as she transitioned into her glamour and again as she had a conversation with Salem, both clips filmed covertly. Harvey had given detailed information about her lineage as well. Nick hadn’t emerged from his office until the early morning hours, his anger at the dead mortal boiling hot telling him he needed to keep to himself for the moment. Between classes and Sabrina’s own duties as well as what he suspected was her own desire to lay low, this was his first opportunity to talk to her.

“Well, Ambrose suggested resurrecting Harvey to kill him again and I didn’t disagree with the idea,” she said. “I just… I trusted him, you know? Our marriage was a disaster, but I still trusted him. At least enough to not believe him capable of something like this. He died plotting my death.”

Something in Nick panged with regret. She had trusted him once, too, and he had also betrayed her. It was in the past, and she had forgiven him for it, but he couldn’t help but connect the dots. To his knowledge, Sabrina had only truly loved two men. And both of them had betrayed her.

“His plot won’t succeed,” Nick assured her. “We won’t allow it to.”

“I hate him,” she admitted. “I actually hate him. I fell out of love with him a long time ago, but I still liked him. I liked him well enough to care for him when his diagnosis became terminal. But now, knowing what I know… I hate him, Nick.”

“I’ve never been a fan,” he said as he peeled the last shrimp. To his surprise, she smiled a bit.

“I’m aware,” she stated. “Can we talk about something else though? He’s been a constant topic of conversation these past few days and I just don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

“That’s a great plan,” Nick agreed. Harvey had taken up too much of his brain space as of late. Sabrina had to feel the same way. “Pick a new subject.” He was nearly relieved to see Sabrina smirk.

“Your intro to demonology class sort of hates you,” she informed him. “You were quite the subject of conversation during study hall yesterday. Something about a pop quiz?”

“They pissed me off,” Nick informed her. “Well, two of them did and the rest of them suffered for it.”

“Which two?” Sabrina asked. “Wait. Don’t tell me. I want to guess.” She pretended to think about it for a moment. “Trevor and Mohan.”

“Two in the same,” Nick confirmed. “They’re going to be leading a crime ring by the time they’re a hundred.”

“They get into a fair amount of trouble,” Sabrina agreed. “What exactly did they do to warrant the entire class being punished? I couldn’t put the pieces together despite my best efforts at eavesdropping.” Nick knew if there was anyone he could talk to about the Q&A session on his time in Hell, it was her.

“They interrupted my lecture on the hierarchy of demons to ask if it was true that I’ve been to Hell.”

Sabrina looked horrified.

“Nick... I’m so sorry…”

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s a thing that happened to me a long time ago. I’ll never forget it, but it’s something I’ve made peace with. I told my class it’s not something I talk about and went back to demonology.”

“Still…”

“Sabrina, it’s okay,” Nick cut her off. “It’s not a secret, what happened back then. It’s not the first time I’ve been asked about it either.”

“As long as you’re okay,” Sabrina said. Despite all of his bravado, she was sure the mention of Hell had brought back things he didn’t want to think about.

“I’m okay,” Nick confirmed. “I warned them not to bring it up to me or anyone else.” He gave her a pointed look.

“I’ll tell them the same thing you told them,” Sabrina assured him. “It’s not something we talk about.” She bit her lip. “Although, if you ever need to…”

“I know,” he nodded once with an acknowledging smile her way. “But I’m okay, Sabrina. I truly am.” He laid his shrimp across a baking sheet, then went to work cutting and juicing limes.

“Are you sure I can’t help?” she asked, sensing he was ready to change the topic.

“I’m positive,” Nick confirmed. “I’ve got this recipe memorized anyway. It’s easier for me to make it than explain it. Tell me, how is the whole study hall monitor thing going?”

He listened while Sabrina shared that she didn’t mind her role as it was something to do, but he could tell it wasn’t something she was overly passionate about. She told a couple of anecdotes about students while he mixed an olive oil, lime juice, and cilantro marinade. He poured it over the shrimp and left them to set.

“Still like spicy things?” he asked as he worked to shred red cabbage.

“I do,” she confirmed. Another thing Harvey hadn’t cared for. She would make a meal bland and add spice to her own dish.

“Good,” Nick picked up a bottle of siracha and poured liberally. “So, you don’t love your current role. What do you want to do?” Sabrina shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve never really thought about it. I mean, I did, back in the day, when I thought Edward Spellman was my father. I was going to go evangelize his doctrine, promote the idea that mortals and witches could co-exist. I don’t feel like that anymore. It’s a nice thought, but I’m wiser now. I see how difficult that would be.”

Nick agreed. He had lived amongst mortals for a long time. He wouldn’t rule out a peaceful co-existence in a century or two, but not anytime soon, not when their own mortal world was in shambles. It would simply be too much for them to add the knowledge that witches and warlocks weren’t just a thing found in books and movies on top of everything else they were dealing with.

“You would be an excellent teacher,” Nick suggested. “You’re smart, patient. The students seem to like you.” He smirked a bit. “They like you better than Zelda at any rate.” Sabrina chuckled. “Hilda though… None of us would win in a popularity contest against her.”

“She feeds them,” Sabrina agreed. “We don’t stand a chance.” She twisted her tea glass in her hands. “I thought about teaching,” she admitted. “I don’t know what I’d teach though.”

“Mythology,” Nick said easily. “Rituals. Ruins and Relics. Heaven, Sabrina, you could teach half of my demonology classes.” He grinned. “Want to take over my intro class?”

“I’ll pass,” she said wryly. “That subject is all you, always has been.” She spun her tea glass again, thinking. “Do you really think I could teach mythology?”

“I think you can do absolutely anything you decide you want to do,” he said sincerely.

Something warmed Sabrina from the inside out. It had been a very long time since someone had encouraged her. There was plenty of talk about how she was letting her talents go to waste, but no one ever told her she could do whatever she put her mind to. It was nice to hear, particularly from someone who meant it.

But, she reminded herself, Nick had always thought she could do anything.

“Tell me about being a doctor,” she requested. “Did you like it? You were so calm when you helped Sage the other day…” She had revisited the scene in quiet moments. Nick had been collected, in charge. He knew what to do. It had left her impressed.

“I liked it well enough.” Nick added mayonnaise, lime juice, and the siracha to the bowl of cabbage he had shredded and begin to toss it. “Med school was hard. Long hours, lots of studying. I didn’t mind that part all that much.” Sabrina had to smile. He had always loved to learn. “I liked helping people, but I found I struggled in the formal setting of a hospital or doctor’s office. It was harder for me to administer treatment and move on. I wanted to talk to them, get to know them. But the hospital doesn’t get paid because you made friends with your patients. I felt like I could do more good taking my skills to remote villages. So I did.”

“Like Doctors without Borders,” Sabrina said.

“Basically,” Nick agreed. “But again, minus the officialness of it all.”

“You went rogue.”

“It was easier that way,” he told her. “Being a warlock and all.” He washed his hands and opened a drawer. He removed several wooden skewers.

“You’ve been cooking in here a lot, haven’t you?” Sabrina realized. “You know where things are far too well for someone that hasn’t been in here much.”

“I generally cook for myself when Hilda’s off duty,” he confirmed. “I figure as long as I clean up after myself and don’t move any of her stuff around, she won’t kill me.”

“I think you might be the only person besides me that cooks in here,” she told him.

“It suffices to say we’ve both always been a bit more rebellious,” Nick reminded her. That made Sabrina smile. She had done that a lot tonight, she noted.

“Where did you go to med school?”

“Cambridge,” Nick answered as he threaded shrimp onto the skewers. “I did undergrad there too.” He had gone to England because he simply couldn’t be in the same country as Sabrina in those early days. There were times when an ocean away still didn’t feel like enough space from her. “All of my medical training was in Europe.”

He continued to talk to her about medical school as he grilled the shrimp skewers on the stovetop using one of Hilda’s griddled pans. When those were done, he tossed several tortillas onto the grill briefly as well. He removed the shrimp from their skewers and put together the tacos, focusing on making them look good on the plate. He normally couldn’t care less about presentation, but he wouldn’t deny that he was trying to impress Sabrina. He heard her bumping around behind him, but he focused on layering first the siracha cabbage slaw and then an avocado he had sliced. Satisfied with his work, he turned back to Sabrina holding two plates, each with three tacos. She was just settling back down on her stool.

“I thought we should have chips and salsa,” she informed him, holding up a bag of tortilla chips in one hand, a tub of Hilda’s freshly made salsa in the other.

“I’ll allow it,” Nick said with a grin. He placed plate in front of her. “Your dinner.”

“It looks delicious,” she observed as he sat down across from her. “I’m impressed, Scratch.”

“You haven’t tried it yet,” he reminded her. “Presentation is only part of the equation.”

“Let’s remedy that.” She lifted a taco took a big bite. Her eyes widened. “Oh my Hecate,” she said around a mouthful of food. “Nick…” She chewed and swallowed. “This is incredible.”

“You approve?” he clarified.

“Very much so,” she nodded. “Don’t let Hilda ever find out you can cook like this. She will either make you help her in the kitchen, or she’ll drive herself mad trying to out cook you.” Nick chuckled as he picked up his own taco.

“I don’t think she needs to worry about me,” he said. “The kitchen will forever be Hilda’s domain.” Nick reached for the chips. “Speaking of Hilda. I’ve been meaning to ask. Whatever happened to Cee?”

“He passed away,” Sabrina said with a soft fondness. “About twenty years ago, now. He went peacefully. After he died, Hilda moved back into the mortuary. As hard as it was to lose Cee, it was nice to have her back. She moved in as things were starting to turn in Harvey and I’s marriage. She tempered things.”

Again, Nick read between the lines. Hilda had always liked Harvey, at least until recent matters were unveiled. Her presence in the house helped soothe the tension that lived there. He had, of course, known about Cee’s passing, but he hadn’t attended the funeral. Cee had been gone for more than six months before he found out. But he didn’t want Sabrina to know that.

“I always liked Cee,” Nick said. “He was weird, but he was a good guy.”

“He was the best,” Sabrina said. “He made Hilda really happy.” Nick felt a pang in his chest. Sabrina hadn’t had that happiness.

They continued their casual conversation while they ate. When their plates were empty, Sabrina tried to do the dishes, but Nick took care of things with a quick spell and a smirk at her indignation. Together, they left the kitchen. At the top of the stairs where Nick would turn left to go to his quarters and Sabrina would climb another staircase to get to her own, they paused.

“Thanks for sharing your dinner with me,” she said. “It really was delicious.”

“I enjoyed the company,” Nick countered. “Thanks for joining me.” He decided to live on the edge a bit. “Maybe we could make it a regular thing – cooking on the nights Hilda’s off. I always have too much for one person.”

Sabrina wavered. She wanted, desperately, to agree. She wasn’t naïve. She could recognize that she was still drawn to Nick. She had to remind herself that there was no reason to say no. There were no longer husbands or ex-boyfriends or even realms to worry about. She could cook dinner with him a couple of nights a week if she damn well wanted to.

“On one condition,” she chanced.

“I’d expect nothing less than a negotiation with you,” Nick replied. Sabrina had to smile.

“We take turns cooking. I have a hard time cooking for one. I got used to cooking for two or more so there’s always more than just I can eat. Makes sense to share it with you.”

“Counteroffer?” Nick proposed. Sabrina nodded, listening. “We cook together, but take turns picking what we’re cooking.”

“Deal,” Sabrina nodded, her smile growing. “Saturday night?”

“Saturday night,” Nick confirmed. “You pick the meal, I’ll come ready to assist.”

“I noted those knife skills,” she said seriously. “I’m going to take full advantage. I hate chopping vegetables.” Nick chuckled.

“I’ll handle the vegetables,” he agreed. “Have a good night, Sabrina.”

“Goodnight, Nick,” she replied. She left him to climb the stairs to her suite. He was nearly to his quarters when he realized he had left his phone in the kitchen. He turned and backtracked. It was right where he left it on the kitchen island. He pocketed it and turned to exit.

“Nicholas!” Hilda jumped, her hand flying to her chest in surprise at finding her kitchen not empty as she entered. “Heavens!”

“I’m sorry, Sister Spellman,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I was nipping down to get a tea blend I decided I wanted,” she said. “I didn’t expect anyone in the kitchen is all.”

“I left my phone in here,” he explained. “I’m going to head up to my quarters, grade a few quizzes before bed. Have a good night.” He was nearly out of the kitchen when Hilda spoke again.

“Nicholas?” He turned back to her. She looked pensive. “About today’s trip to the market. Is sneaking out of the Academy for groceries going to be a regular occurrence for you?”

“I’m not sure you want me to answer that,” Nick said. “Plausible deniability and all.” To his surprise, Hilda chuckled.

“I’m of the same mind,” she informed him. “I thought, perhaps, if you will be nipping out under Zelda’s nose to get whatever it is you intend to cook that night, we could perhaps go as a team. It’ll be quicker with two of us, safer, too. And my sister, of course, does not have to be none the wiser.”

“You know I’ve been cooking?” he asked.

“I know everything that happens in my kitchen, Brother Scratch.” She sniffed the air. “I believe you had shrimp tonight. Siracha, too.”

“You have the nose of a bloodhound,” Nick stated. “And I say that as a compliment.”

“I’ll allow the cooking to continue as you seem rather responsible with my kitchen,” Hilda told him as though she were granting him access to a highly secured area that held state secrets. “Thoughts on my proposition?”

“It’s a deal,” Nick nodded. “I look forward to breaking the rules with you, Sister Spellman.”

“Oh, don’t say it like that,” she waved her hand. “We’re merely bending them. The Academy has to eat after all. And no more ‘Sister Spellman.’ Call Zelda that, but not me. It’s Hilda to you.”

“Hilda,” Nick repeated. “I’ll leave you to your tea and look forward to whatever you produce for breakfast in the morning.”

“It’ll be a bagel spread in the morning,” she told him. “Lots of spreads to choose from.”

“Excellent,” Nick approved. “Goodnight, Hilda.”

“Goodnight, Nicholas,” she replied. She smiled at him, a real, genuine smile. “It really is good to have you back in Greendale.”

_*****FLASHBACK***** _

_Hilda was cautious as she approached the kitchen. She never thought ‘cautious’ would be a word to describe her approach to any kitchen, let alone the one at the Spellman Mortuary, but cautious was how she felt right then._

_“Need any help, love?”_

_Sabrina looked over her shoulder from where she stood at the sink washing dishes._

_“No, I’ve got it, Auntie. I’m nearly finished anyway.”_

_“Mind if I make a cuppa then?”_

_“It’s your house too, Aunt Hilda,” Sabrina reminded her. Hilda thought there was a bit of an edge to her niece’s tone._

_“I’ll make you a cuppa too,” Hilda decided. A spot of tea tended to soothe over most things._

_They didn’t speak while Hilda put on the kettle and waited. Sabrina continued to wash their dinner dishes. Hilda observed her. She had a system, a way of doing things. The same girl she had chastised for leaving her dishes in her bedroom and that could barely boil water without magic had prepared a delicious dinner and was doing a job cleaning up the kitchen that rivaled what she herself would do._

_Hilda had just poured the water into their teacups when Sabrina finished her task._

_“Shall we take this in the parlor, then?” Hilda recommended. “Bit more cozy in there, what with the fireplace and all.”_

_“That sounds nice,” Sabrina agreed. They settled into the comfortable armchairs on either side of the fireplace. Hilda, of course, had added a tray with cookies for their teatime. “How are you, Aunt Hilda? I know it’s been hard these last few weeks, losing Cee, moving back here…”_

_“Oh, love, I’m doing alright,” Hilda said. “Loving Cee is the best thing I’ve ever done, one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Losing him is devastating, but I know he lived a good, happy life and we had a beautiful time together. For that, I’m thankful.”_

_“That’s beautiful, Auntie,” Sabrina said with a soft smile. Hilda noted the sadness in her eyes. “How about being back here? Is your room okay? Do you need anything?”_

_“My bedroom is as cozy and welcoming as it always was,” Hilda said. “Bit more spacious without Zelda, of course.” That made Sabrina chuckle. “It’s nice, being back here, being with you again. I’m hoping Ambrose swings through town again soon. It would be lovely to have the whole family around the table, if only for a night.”_

_“It’s been a long time since we had a Spellman family dinner,” Sabrina agreed. She didn’t see her aunts nearly as much as she’d like, even with them both still in Greendale and Ambrose was akin to a phantom, floating in and out of town every so many years._

_“You never changed your name,” Hilda commented. “You remained a Spellman.”_

_“I fought hard for that last name,” Sabrina reminded her aunt. “I wasn’t about to give it up just because I got married.”_

_“I’m proud of you for keeping it,” Hilda nodded. “You can always take a new last name should you marry again down the road.”_

_“Harvey is still relatively young,” she reminded her aunt. “No need to talk about my next wedding. Harvey and I still have many years ahead of us and I doubt I marry again in the future. If I do, it won’t be anytime soon.”_

_“How is married life?” Hilda wondered. She tried to sound curious, not at all as suspect as she actually was. Her niece was putting on a good front, but she could see the cracks in her façade all the same. “Things are well?”_

_“Married life is – married life,” Sabrina offered. “We have our ups and downs. But don’t all couples?”_

_“I suppose,” Hilda agreed. “I couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be some tension at the dinner table tonight though. And now Harvey’s gone off…”_

_“He’s watching some game with a few of his friends from the mines at the bar on Main Street,” Sabrina said. “We’re fine, Aunt Hilda. Nothing to worry about.”_

_“You can talk to me, love,” Hilda prodded her. “If there’s something on your mind…” She pursed her lips. “I can tell something heavy is on your mind, Sabrina. If I can help, even if just by listening, I’m here.”_

_Sabrina thought about this. She didn’t really have anyone to talk to. It felt odd, to bring this up with Roz given her history with Harvey, even if it had been more than twenty years since they were last together. She certainly couldn’t bring it up with Zelda who hinted often enough that she should have certain things in her marriage by now, given that her husband was a mortal. Hilda had always been a safe place to share her deepest fears and heartaches._

_“I want a baby,” she confessed. Hilda’s eyes widened._

_“A babe!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Sabrina, a baby would be lovely…”_

_“Harvey doesn’t,” she cut her aunt off. “I’ve brought it up a few times over the years, and he’s always had one excuse or another. I brought it up again last night. He’s approaching fifty in another couple of years, Aunt Hilda. While my age doesn’t matter, his does, and he’s now using that as his excuse to not give me a child.”_

_“I’m so sorry, Sabrina,” Hilda offered. Sabrina, however, had opened her flood gates._

_“I called him out on it,” she stated. “When I first brought it up a few years into marriage, he said he wanted to enjoy our time as ‘just us.’ Then it was that we weren’t financially sound enough…”_

_“Are you having money problems?” Hilda interjected. “Because Sabrina…”_

_“No, nothing like that,” Sabrina shook her head. “Or, well, if you ask me, we’re not. Ask Harvey and it’s a whole other story. He won’t allow me to use my inheritance for us. I think it makes him feel like less of a man.” Hilda narrowed her eyes at that but didn’t comment. “Then it wasn’t the right time – he was busy with a mine expansion. Then it was another round about finances because he had just had to pay a pretty hefty fine for violating some environmental law at the mines. Last night it was his age. I know better now, Hilda, and he finally admitted it. He doesn’t want a baby with me because he doesn’t want it to be part witch, part mortal.”_

_Hilda absorbed the information. Something akin to anger bubbled within her._

_“What would be wrong with that?” she asked carefully. “You’re half of each, aren’t you? And you’re near perfect.”_

_Sabrina smiled ruefully._

_“I’m hardly perfect, Auntie.”_

_“Well, you are to me,” she said. Sabrina just shook her head._

_“I can’t make him want a baby,” she said. “I mean, I suppose I_ could _given the whole magic thing I can do, but that wouldn’t be right. I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom, though. It was something that seemed so very far into the future when I was a teenager, but after hearing from you and Aunt Zelda about how much my mom loved me, and experiencing firsthand how you two cared for me, I just knew I wanted that at some point in my life. If Harvey weren’t mortal, I probably wouldn’t push it so hard right now, but he is and we only have so much time. Except I’ve finally accepted it. I’ll never be a mom.”_

_Her eyes filled with tears. Hilda reached across the space between them and squeezed Sabrina’s hand._

_“Darling, you may not want to hear this right now, but there is no reason you can’t be a mother. Perhaps you won’t have a child with Harvey, but you have centuries ahead of you. You could have many children, if that’s what you want.”_

_“Is this like the time you told me I’d find love someday, even if it took a century and a half?” Sabrina asked. Hilda chuckled._

_“Well, there’s no wedding toast to give this time, is there?” Sabrina’s lips quirked into a hint of a smile. “Love, you are looking at what’s right in front of you. What you have and don’t have in this moment. I understand that, truly. But it’s okay for you to think about the future, too, to daydream about what life might be like one day. That’s the beauty of our kind – we get to live many lives, try on things. A hundred years from now, you may be in some foreign place, walking down the street, minding your own business, and run right smack into the love of your life.”_

_Sabrina said nothing. Even when she married Harvey, she knew he wasn’t the love of her life. She loved him. She loved him deeply and wholly. But she was as sure now as she was then that the love of her life had walked out of her life a long time ago, never to be heard from again._

_“I’m glad you’re here, Aunt Hilda,” Sabrina said. “I’ve missed you.”_

_“I’m glad I’m here too,” Hilda nodded. “Back with my favorite niece.”_

_“I’m your only niece,” she quipped._

_“No competition,” Hilda said seriously. That drew a laugh out of Sabrina._

_“Want to watch some TV with me?” she asked. “I know it’s terrible, but I’m really into this reality dating show…”_

_“Oh, I love that show!” Hilda clapped her hands together. “Shall we move to the living room?”_

_Sabrina followed Hilda out of the parlor and towards the living room where Harvey had set up a massive television that was out of place with the home’s antique décor. Even as she settled on the couch to lose herself in that week’s rose ceremony drama, she tried to picture the future._

_She couldn’t._

_Because all she could think of was what she didn’t have now._

_An image of Nicholas Scratch floated into her thoughts. He looked the same, but there was something more mature about him as he grinned at her with a book open in his hand. She felt something akin to butterflies in her stomach. She shook her head a bit and the image floated away._

_She had those sometimes, random thoughts of her long gone ex-boyfriend. She assumed they were just memories, or perhaps wishful thinking._

_She hadn’t seen Nicholas Scratch in thirty years._

_She doubted she would see him in a hundred more._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

Sabrina idly wandered through the library shelves, hoping a title would jump out and catch her attention. Nick’s comment about mythology had stuck with her, and she thought she would look into it a bit more, refresh her memory on some of the dormant knowledge – and maybe find out something that would help them stop the Sons of Angels while she was at it. She had been reading a lot, not just helping Nick and Ambrose with their research, but for fun, to fill the time.

She just had so much time.

A noise caused her to stop. She listened for it again, but all was quiet. She took a couple more steps but heard it again. Sniffling. Someone was crying.

“Hello?” she called softly. “Who’s there?”

No one replied, but the sniffling continued. She followed the sound. At the end of the aisle, she looked right. Nothing. She turned to look left and at first, saw nothing. But she heard the sniffling again and a slight movement caught her attention. It was a tiny black Mary Jane, the kind Zelda required the Academy’s youngest girls to wear.

“Who’s there?” she asked, walking towards the foot. It pulled back into a tight cubby hole. Sabrina knelt and found a small blonde girl. She had tucked herself into a narrow space between the shelves. Tears poured down her fair cheeks. “Hi there. Is everything okay?”

The little girl just looked at her with big blue eyes full of tears.

“I’m Sabrina,” Sabrina tried. “What’s your name?”

Nothing.

“I want to help you,” she told the child. “But I need to know what’s wrong. And it would be really wonderful to know your name, too.” She smiled kindly. “I bet you have a lovely name.” She was a cute little girl, the kind of child that would have a name to match her fair features.

“Iris,” she whispered.

Sabrina had guessed right. She had a lovely name.

“I love that name. ‘Iris’ like the flower.” Iris nodded, but she continued to trail tears down her cheeks. “Can you come out from there? We can talk about what’s making you cry.”

It took the little girl a few moments, but she finally scooted out of her hideaway.

“There you go,” Sabrina encouraged as she got comfortable on the floor across from Iris, right there in the middle of the library. “Isn’t that more comfortable?” Iris just shrugged. “Can you tell me what has got you so upset?” Iris just looked at her. Sabrina reached out and gently wiped away a tear. “You can tell me,” she encouraged. “I’m a really good listener.”

Iris played with her fingers in her lap, her eyes downcast.

“I don’t have any friends,” she whispered.

Sabrina’s heart broke for the little girl. She understood all too well what she was feeling. She herself hadn’t really had friends since Roz died. But she wouldn’t tell Iris that. It wouldn’t help matters.

“Why do you think that?” Sabrina prompted.

“No one lets me sit with them at meals,” Iris said in that same quiet voice. “They think I’m weird because I like to read instead of play their dumb games during free time. And because I pay attention in my classes and answer the teachers’ questions right because I want to grow up to be a really good witch.”

“It absolutely does not make you weird because you like to read,” Sabrina told her. “You learn so much from books.” She thought Iris was rather young, however. “How old are you, Iris?”

“I’m seven,” she said.

“And what books do seven-year-old witches like you like to read?” Iris shrugged.

“I like myths. And fairytales.” Sabrina had to smile. Iris reminded her of herself in a lot of ways.

“I love those too,” Sabrina told her. “I bet you can read books that are a more difficult to read than what some for your classmates read, can’t you?” Iris nodded and Sabrina understood entirely. Iris was more advanced than her classmates and because of that, she had been signaled out as the weird witch. “Who taught you how to read, Iris?”

“My mom and dad,” she said. “I miss them. I want to go home.”

“You’ll go home to visit soon,” Sabrina offered. They still had a full eight weeks before the winter solstice break, but she thought telling the kid she had two months to go before she saw her family wasn’t wise, nor was it wise to reveal that Zelda was considering keeping the students at the Academy if the Sons of Angels threat still hung over them. She had always questioned Zelda’s decision to have such young kids at the Academy, but it was a decision she had no sway over. “I know what it’s like to feel different from your classmates,” she shared.

“You do?” Iris asked with her big blue eyes.

“I do,” Sabrina nodded. “Did you know that I’m half mortal?” Iris looked either surprised or impressed. “My mom was a mortal. I went to mortal school until I was sixteen. And then I went to both mortal school and the Academy. At mortal school, I had to hide the fact that I’m a witch. When I was here, my classmates gave me a hard time because I wasn’t a full witch, like them.”

“What did you do?” Iris asked.

“I stayed true to what made me happy.” A teenage Sabrina had, anyway. She thought an adult Sabrina could learn from her. “And that’s what I want you to do, Iris. If you love to read and learn, don’t give that up. You’ll find your friends, your people that love to read and learn, too. It just might take a little time.”

“People call me a nerd,” Iris confessed. “It hurts my feelings.”

“I bet that does hurt your feelings,” Sabrina recognized. “When they call you that, I want you to tell them that they aren’t being nice. Can you do that?” Iris shrugged.

“That sounds scary.”

“It can be scary to be brave and tell people how you feel,” Sabrina acknowledged. She thought she might should look into a mirror when she said that. “But when you speak up for yourself, you are standing your ground and setting boundaries. That’s really important.”

Something else she did as a teenager that she had lost as an adult.

“I’ll try,” Iris said.

“It gets easier,” Sabrina assured her. “Each time you do it, it will get a little easier.” She observed the little girl who still looked sad. “You know what I think would cheer you up?”

“What?” Iris wondered.

“Milk and cookies. How does that sound?”

“We can’t have cookies until after dinner,” Iris reminded her.

“It just so happens that Sister Hilda is my aunt,” Sabrina said, using the name the students called Hilda to differentiate her from Zelda as she got to her feet. She offered Iris her hand. “I know the kitchen is off limits to students, but I’m not a student, am I? In fact, I work here. So, you’re really with a staff member and I’m allowing you into the kitchen.”

“Are you a teacher?” Iris asked as she took Sabrina’s hand and let her to pull her to her feet.

“No,” Sabrina shook her head. She thought she might want to be. “But Sister Spellman is also my aunt and she put me in charge of study hall and tutoring sessions for the older kids.”

“So you can go to the kitchen?” Iris clarified, clearly uneasy about breaking rules.

“I can,” Sabrina assured her. “And I can take my friends with me.” Iris giggled a bit.

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Come on then. I could use a cookie break, too.”

She led Iris through the library. As they walked through the entry, Sabrina spied Nick coming down the stairs with several folders in hand.

“Sabrina,” he greeted with his easy smile. He noted the little girl holding her hand. She looked to have been crying.

“Hi, Nick,” she replied. She wished she didn’t notice how handsome Nick still was every time she saw him. It occurred to her that Nick was the perfect example of someone who loved to read and learn. “Iris, this is Brother Scratch,” she introduced. “He’s a teacher here. You’ll take his classes when you’re older. Nick, this is Iris.”

“Hello, Iris,” Nick greeted. “Everything okay?” Iris just shrugged.

“Iris is having a bit of bad day,” Sabrina explained. “She really likes to read and learn, but her classmates made her feel bad about it.”

Nick understood.

“The same thing happened to me when I was a young warlock,” he told the girl. He crouched down to her level. “I’ve always preferred reading and studying to playing games and such with other warlocks and witches.”

“Me too,” Iris nodded.

“What do you like to read?” he asked, just as Sabrina had.

“Myths and fairytales,” Iris answered. Nick smiled.

“Just like Sabrina.” Sabrina felt like someone had wrapped her in a warm blanket as his smile turned her way. “If you like reading, Iris, then you should read. Don’t let those other kids make you feel bad about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Iris nodded. Between the woman holding her hand and the man crouched before her, she felt more confident in her love of books. She could tell the woman was powerful and the man seemed important. If they said she should keep reading and learning, she would.

“Good,” Nick approved and stood once more.

“We’re going to the kitchen to get a cookie,” Sabrina told him. “It will make her feel better.” She decided to take a chance. “Want to join us?”

“I’d love to,” Nick said. “But I can’t. I’m on my way to a meeting with Zelda and the upper-level staff on the upcoming midterms.” He could think of a dozen things he would rather be doing right then, the top now being having a cookie with Sabrina and Iris.

“You won’t tell Sister Spellman I’m in the kitchen, will you?” Iris asked nervously. “I know it’s off limits, but Sabrina said it would be okay…”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Nick assured her with a kind smile. “I’ll keep her busy so you can enjoy your cookie in peace.” Sabrina chuckled. Nick glanced her way, then back at Iris. “Besides, you’re with Sabrina, and she’s perhaps the only person in this entire school that isn’t at least a little afraid of Sister Spellman.”

“Haha,” Sabrina said dryly. “You may want to get to that meeting if that’s the case.”

“I’m already late,” Nick admitted. “It was nice to meet you, Iris. Ask Sabrina for some myths to read. She’ll have plenty of recommendations for you.” He winked at Sabrina, then continued on his way. Sabrina led Iris in the opposite direction, but she glanced over her shoulder to watch Nick for a moment as he ambled off in the direction of Zelda’s office. He had been good with Iris, just as she thought he would be. He was good with all the students.

“What does Brother Scratch teach?” Iris asked her.

“Demonology, conjuring, binding, and history,” Sabrina answered.

“That’s a lot,” Iris mused.

“It is,” Sabrina agreed. “But he’s a really good teacher.”

“Did he teach you?” Iris wondered. She had ready figured out just because someone looked young in her world, it didn’t mean they were.

“Brother Scratch and I went to school together,” she told Iris. “Right here, at the Academy. But he did teach me a lot, yes.” She smiled a bit, thinking Nick had taught her more than most of her teachers at the Academy ever had about witchcraft, let alone life. “He’s really very smart.”

“It’s going to be a long time before I take his classes,” Iris commented. “You have to be a teenager and baptized into the Church of Hecate to take conjuring and binding.”

“But you can take some of his demonology classes in another few years,” Sabrina told her. “History even sooner.”

In the kitchen, she set Iris up at the counter, poured two glasses of milk, and set several cookies on a plate between them.

“Thank you for being so nice to me,” Iris said as she reached for a cookie.

“That’s what friends do,” Sabrina told her with a smile. “Tell me about your favorite myth?”

She listened intently as Iris rambled on about myths she enjoyed between bites of cookies, an entirely different child than the one she had found hiding in the library. As much as she was enjoying the child, she couldn’t help but feel an ache deep in her chest.

Forty years ago, she had started to toy with the idea of motherhood. It wasn’t something she had thought a lot about as a teenage witch or even in her twenties, just knowing it was something she wanted, someday. But as she entered her thirties, the idea of having a child, of building her own family, had taken hold and never let go. Harvey hadn’t shared that dream and it was the turning point of their marriage.

As a witch, the fact that she was nearly sixty-eight didn’t matter. She had hundreds of years of childbearing potential ahead of her. But sitting with Iris, it felt impossible that she might one day have some of her deepest desires come true.

She didn’t even have friends.

A child – a family of her own – seemed next to impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nabrina in the kitchen... Oh the potential. A little flashback from Hilda's perspective and Sabrina finding both encouragement from Nick and a small friend in Iris. We'll return to the kitchen next update - and get some interesting insight into Nick's relationships over the last 50 years. 
> 
> Thank you for reading this. I know it's a bit more heavy, but I truly love writing and sharing this fic. So one more time, thank you. Please let me know what you thought of this update!


	8. Henry Is His Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been waiting patiently to introduce you all to... Henry. 
> 
> Here he is.

Nick’s quarters were too big.

He had grown used to it since his return to the Academy, but once in a while, the seemingly cavernous size of Blackwood’s former quarters struck him. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study, a living area. It didn’t have a kitchen, which he would have liked, but then again, he wouldn’t have an excuse to run into Sabrina in the Academy kitchen if he had one. It was a lot of space for one person. Not for the first time, he wondered why Zelda had appointed them to him when there were other more senior members of the staff living in smaller spaces.

As they often did when he was alone these days, his thoughts drifted to Sabrina.

They had cooked together again, Sabrina making good on her promise to put his knife skills to work by choosing a vegetable lasagna. Spending time with her had been the best part of his week. Ever since Ambrose had called him out, it had become harder for him to hide the fact that he wanted her. The only difference was that he wanted her more now as a seventy-year-old warlock than he did as a teenager that didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. Time and distance had only made his desire stronger.

He couldn’t act on his feelings though. Not right now. There were the Sons lurking in the shadows, but he was also hyper aware that Sabrina wasn’t okay. She needed time to find her feet again, get to know him again, too. He needed to get to know _her_ again.

It was painfully quiet in his quarters as he sat in the study, papers and books scattered everywhere. He had taken to working on researching the Sons there instead of his office. It was safer, far less likely that a student would stumble across his work. As far as they knew, witch hunters had been seen in the area and precautions were being taken. They didn’t know the severity of it. But the silence seemed to be extra loud today.

On one wall of the study, he had begun to map out the connection between Harvey and the Sons. He grew angrier as he worked on it, filling in pieces of the puzzle and thinking of how nice it would be to do as Ambrose suggested and bring Kinkle back, just to kill him again. He understood that people grew and changed over the years, but to know Harvey Kinkle had gone from a goofy yet lovable teenager to a bitter and angry old man still made his head spin.

There was a knock on his door.

“I come with snacks,” came Ambrose’s voice. Nick used magic to open the main entrance to his quarters. Ambrose appeared in the study with a bag brimming with junk food. “It’s quiet in here, Scratch.”

“It’s just me,” Nick reminded him.

“No music?” Ambrose pushed. “No television? The mortals have some horrid reality TV shows these days. I find them to be excellent background noise. But then I start to care that Jessica is older than Mark and I get distracted…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nick stated.

“It’s probably better that way,” Ambrose shrugged. He took his usual seat in Nick’s study and pulled out a bag of Twizzlers. It was followed by a parade of other candies, chips, trail mixes, and a box of Pop-Tarts. “Sustenance,” he explained when he noted Nick’s raised eyebrow.

“You’re like a mortal pre-teen that was given their allowance and sent to the grocery store hungry,” Nick commented. “Pass me the Chex Mix.”

“I simply took advantage of my escape from the Academy.” Ambrose tossed Nick the bag of cheese flavored Chex Mix he had learned the warlock had a fondness for. “I’m going stir crazy, stuck here like this.”

Nick knew Ambrose was struggling with being cooped up. It reminded him too much of his days of house arrest. He himself didn’t exactly enjoy the restricted freedom.

“I have the membership records of the church in Riverdale Kinkle belonged to.” Nick picked up a thick book and held it out to Ambrose. “You’ll find it interesting.”

“How’d you get this?” Ambrose wondered.

“Dorian is also rather bored with all of his clientele being locked down and quite willing to sleuth. For a price, of course, but it turns out he can also be reasoned with when he’s desperate for something to do. Let’s just say I got a deal.”

He had paid Dorian a fair sum of money, talked down from the extortionist amount he had initially asked for, and agreed not to ask questions about why Dorian needed him to perform a complex binding spell to shut off a room at the Gray Room from entry or exit, but the shifty bartender had delivered the book to the Academy within the hour.

“You can’t help but love the guy,” Ambrose mused with a certain fondness. He flipped open the book. It dated back hundreds of years. “What am I looking for?”

“Flip to the last page,” Nick directed. Ambrose did so. Halfway down the page was Harvey Kinkle’s name, the date of his joining the church a few years previous. Only a handful more names appeared after his.

“We already know his name and approximate date of deciding to be Catholic,” Ambrose said. “This is not brand new information.”

“This is.” Nick handed him a piece of paper. Ambrose took it. It was a reverse family tree of sorts, Harvey at the top, his father and brother below him. It traced the Kinkle membership through that particular church back for three centuries. “Looks like his brother Tommy was well on his way to joining the family business,” Nick said. “His death did us all a favor.”

“As did Harvey’s,” Ambrose muttered. “I’m still not sure what I’m looking at.”

Nick stood and wandered over to the wall he had started to map out connections on.

“The Riverdale Cathedral of St. Mary’s isn’t just a Catholic church,” he explained. “Father Gabriel,” he pointed to a piece of paper with his name on it, “is not just a cardinal. He’s connected to the Sons of Angels as an informant. From what I’ve been able to dig up, there is a whole web of these informants around the world. They are concentrated in Europe, but there are a handful in North America, Asia, and Africa.”

“So he feeds information to the Sons about suspected witches in their areas,” Ambrose understood.

“They’re not always right,” Nick continued. “I’ve found at least three massacres of mortals they mistook as witches.”

“Okay, let’s think about what know.” Ambrose paused to toss several jellybeans into his mouth. “The bastard became religious.” Nick smirked. Ambrose rarely called Harvey by name anymore. It reminded him of those days so long ago when he was purposefully calling Harvey ‘Harry.’ “He joined the same so-called church his family had been members of, figured out who wanted to rid the world of witches, and sold out my family to this Gabriel fellow who took the information to the Sons of Angels who have since set up house at the Kinkle ruins in an effort to obliterate our coven.”

“I don’t know that it was as easy as Harvey telling Father Gabriel about the Church of Hecate,” Nick mused. “I’ve combed through his messages. I suspect Gabriel had an inclination that there were witches in the area. He’s been at the church for a really long time. He knew Harvey’s father. I’d guess he knew Harvey had witch hunter blood and witch hunters can sniff out magic. Given all the weird shit that happens around here, he would have to know there was something amiss.”

“Witch hunters are like bloody bloodhounds,” Ambrose muttered. He dumped more jellybeans into his mouth. “Are you saying that you don’t believe Harvey initially intended to turn us in?”

“That’s the part that’s tripping me up,” Nick admitted. “We know he told Gabriel he was living in a house full of witches. We know, too, that he proceeded to feed them information on your family and the coven. I do think Gabriel leaned on him, pressed him to share what he knew. Harvey was never the most calm guy under pressure, was he?”

“Well, no,” Ambrose admitted. “He came through for us a time or two, but he always started out a little shaky in the beginning.”

“Here’s the thing that’s getting me though, Ambrose,” Nick continued. “They could have attacked at any point. Why wait until Harvey was dead? Even if he asked them to? Witch hunters aren’t known for negotiating.”

“Right after his death was the soonest they could get a plane ticket?” Ambrose guessed.

“Something isn’t adding up,” Nick shook his head. “Say they did honor his wishes and waited until he was dead. I imagine the Spellman mortuary is well protected against witch hunters. The Academy certainly is. But how many times since Harvey’s death have any one of us left this place? It took until Sage and Alexander, two innocent kids out for a picnic, for something to actually happen. And I don’t think they shot to kill, not based on what those two told us.”

“Sage was another warning,” Ambrose agreed. “I suppose you’re asking the right questions, but does it matter, Scratch? They’re here and they have every intention of attacking at some undetermined point. I’d guess the only reason they haven’t is the fact that we aren’t leaving the Academy.” He gave him a look. “At least as far as Zelda knows.”

“I don’t know if it my questions matter,” Nick admitted. “But I’d like to be able to give Sabrina some solid answers about why Harvey turned on her, some sort of closure. She deserves that.”

“I agree that she deserves closure, but we may not ever know those answers,” Ambrose reminded him. “Kinkle is dead. We can’t question him.”

“Well… We could…”

Ambrose stared.

“Oh no,” he shook his head. “No. Terrible idea. Absolutely horrible. Literally the second worst idea you’ve ever had. The first being leaving Greendale in the first place.” He considered Nick. “Maybe the third worst idea. There was the whole Dark Lord thing…”

“You don’t even know what I’m suggesting,” Nick protested.

“I know damned well what you’re suggesting,” Ambrose said. “A séance.”

“Fine, you do know what I’m suggesting.” Nick returned to his seat. “You got a better idea?” He helped himself to more Chex mix.

“No,” Ambrose admitted. “I just know that’s a bad one. Do you really want to bring the ghost of Harvey Kinkle back into our lives?”

“Not particular,” Nick sighed. “I just feel like we’re at a dead end. We can’t stay holed up here forever, avoiding the inevitable. We can’t leave either.”

“We know where they are. We could just… attack.”

“That’s a worse plan than us calling upon ghosts,” Nick said. “We’ve got magic on our side, but I’m certain they have that place rigged with every version of holy water and relic imaginable. We wouldn’t make it across their boundary.”

“So, I guess we’re just going to sit here and eat snacks,” Ambrose stated.

“Seems that way,” Nick sighed.

He was frustrated. They were at an impasse. They had a lot of information on the Sons of Angels. They had a lot of information on Harvey’s final days, thanks to his phone. He had managed to pair Kinkle’s drawings to biblical stories and found no link. His Bible, too, held no real insight. He couldn’t find a way forward, no matter how many times him and Ambrose sat down and reviewed their findings or came up with wild ideas like seances and resurrections. He didn’t like feeling stuck.

He didn’t like sitting around why Sabrina was in danger.

* * *

“What’s on the menu tonight, Scratch?”

Sabrina strolled into the kitchen for their dinner session. She looked – fresh. Well-rested and freshly showered. Her hair was curled, her makeup light, but recently applied. Her lips were stained red and the simple jeans and black shirt she wore may as well of been a ballroom gown, given how good she looked in them.

“Burgers,” Nick announced, pretending he hadn’t noticed how good she looked. “And fries.”

“You’re going simple tonight,” she observed.

“Not so much,” Nick shook his head. “The grilling of the burger is pretty straightforward, of course, but it’s the seasonings and the toppings that make the burger.”

“What’s my job?” she asked with a hint of a smile.

“I’ve thought about it,” Nick said. “And I know you admire my knife skills.” Sabrina rolled her eyes. He chuckled. “But I know just the right blend of spices to make the best burger you’ve ever had, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to slice the potatoes for fries.”

“I’ll make you pay for it when it’s my turn to choose the recipe,” she teased. Nick had already laid out potatoes on the kitchen island. She picked one up. “How am I slicing this? Are we having wedges? Shoestring fries? Steak fries?”

“You know a lot about fries,” Nick observed.

“I lived with Cee as my uncle for a long time,” she reminded him.

“We’re going with regular old fries,” he told her with a grin. “Just cut them into quarter inch or so wide strips.”

“Boring,” Sabrina quipped. Nick chuckled again. She was becoming more relaxed around him and he hoped that was a good sign. He had no way of knowing that she had decided to dress for dinner, to put a bit of effort into her appearance. She had told herself it wasn’t because she was trying to make a good impression, simply that she was getting back to prioritizing herself after so many months of playing nurse to Harvey. So many years of playing wife. But even she didn’t believe her own lie. Nick unwrapped a pack of ground beef and dumped it into a bowl.

“Again, it’s in the seasoning.”

“I do have a question for you,” she said as she gathered the potatoes to wash them. “How do you get your hands on all of these ingredients? Hilda never cooks shrimp. A couple of the kids have shellfish allergies, and Ambrose doesn’t like seafood, and yet you procured a bag of it. The burger and potatoes are innocent enough, but I saw you with rather fancy coffee the other day that you surely didn’t get at breakfast.”

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

“You know I can.”

Her words were loaded.

“Hilda and I have an agreement,” he confessed. “She and I pair up twice a week to go grocery shopping.” Sabrina’s eyes danced in amusement. “She needs her groceries for obvious reasons, and she busted me for cooking in her kitchen. We decided it was smarter to go to the store as a pair right now.”

“She knows you cook in her kitchen and you’re still standing?” Sabrina wondered as she worked. Nick dumped an assortment of seasonings into his bowl and began to combine it with the burger using his hands.

“I respect her space,” Nick said. “Her words, not mine.”

“Let me know the next time you’re going. I might have a contraband snack list for you.”

“Anytime,” Nick smiled at her. She thought her cheeks might have flushed. “Speaking of contraband… Look on the counter, by the microwave.”

Sabrina shot him a curious look as she turned off the faucet. She moved her potatoes back to the cutting board, dried her hands, and crossed the kitchen. She broke into a big smile and turned back to Nick, a bag of Sour Patch Kids held up for him to see.

“Really?”

“Technically you’ll have to thank Ambrose for those,” he admitted. “Without confirming one way or another, I’ll say there is a chance he took an unsanctioned trip to the grocery store himself. But unlike Hilda and I’s trips, he treated his the way a kid might spend their birthday money in a candy store. He shared his bounty while we were looking over some research into the Sons yesterday and I snagged those for you.” He paused. “I’m just assuming you still like sour stuff though.”

Her smile was soft with a hint of nostalgia around the edges.

“These are my favorite,” she told him, touched he remembered. “Thank you, Nick.”

“Like I said, thank Ambrose. I just – took them from him. Trust me, more sugar is the last thing he needed by the time he left my study.”

“I’ll save them for dessert,” she decided. She started slicing the potatoes while he began to shape burger patties. “How are your two favorite students doing?” She had listened intently as he ranted about Trevor and Mohan the last time they cooked together. She had noted how his knife moved with a little more vigor as he chopped vegetables while talking about them. It was a battle of the wills between Nick and the two students, and she knew he was determined to win.

“I’ve developed a new theory,” he began.

“No longer think they’re heading for a life of crime?” she asked.

“Oh, they’re absolutely heading for a life of crime. Mohan spelled his name wrong on his homework the other day. His _name_ Sabrina.” Sabrina laughed at his indignation. “I think they’re dating. If they’re not dating, I am absolutely out of touch with what passes as flirting these days.”

“They’re definitely dating,” Sabrina informed him. “I caught them making out outside of the library when they were supposed to be in study hall.”

“I knew it,” Nick muttered.

“Want to hear my theory?” Sabrina asked. “I think they annoy you because you were exactly like them as a young warlock.”

“I was not that bad,” Nick shook his head. “Nowhere close to it.”

“I believe Prudence called you a ‘warlock slut,’ the first time I met you,” Sabrina reminded him. “You got into plenty of trouble when you were their age, Scratch. Don’t try to deny it.”

“Fine, I was a little promiscuous,” he admitted because there was absolutely no use in denying it. “But I spelled my name right every time.”

Sabrina laughed out right.

“I’ll give you that one,” she agreed. Nick smiled at her laugh. It was a good sound, one that made the kitchen feel a little warmer.

“Remember when we competed for Top Boy?” he asked.

“Top Person,” Sabrina corrected. “And that transgression is hard to forget.”

“You certainly made it memorable,” he agreed. He was full on flirting. So was she. Neither of them thought to check themselves. “Cheating and everything.”

“It was the principle of the matter.”

“You thought I was trying to sabotage you,” he reminded her.

“It looked likely at the time,” she defended herself.

“Neither of us won in the end,” he continued. “Damned Ambrose.”

“The Academy wasn’t always bad while we were here, was it?” she asked. She was hyper aware of Nick’s eyes on her, even as he worked. “It was okay, at least for a time.”

“It was really good for a while,” Nick agreed. “It was my home.” A heaviness fell over them. He continued, eager to lift it. “But then I realized that one’s definition of home changes. The Academy wasn’t meant to be home forever – even though I’ve found my way back here.”

“You’ve had a good life since you left here,” Sabrina observed. It wasn’t a question. There was no malice. It was simply a fact that she knew to be absolutely true.

“Overall,” Nick agreed. “It hasn’t been perfect, but I suppose I can’t complain.” He wouldn’t lie to her. There was a lot about the last fifty years that had been good to him and for him, even if there were parts he wished he could change. “I’m guessing you can’t say the same.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” Sabrina said, just like she always did when someone brought up the last fifty years. “It really wasn’t. Harvey and I had some good years.” They truly had. She could say with confidence that the first twenty or so years of marriage were more good than bad before things started to change. “But I suppose there’s no point in denying it. Things didn’t turn out the way I hoped they would.”

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing you’re a witch,” Nick said as he moved his burger patties to a grilling pan on the stove. “You’ve got hundreds of years ahead of you. Two centuries from now, these last thirty or so years will be a very distant memory.”

“I just have to find ways to fill all those years first.”

Nick looked over his shoulder.

“Something tells me you’ll find plenty of ways to make these next several centuries count.”

Sabrina said nothing. She envied the easy confidence Nick had, the way he seemed so sure of himself, even with a task as simple as cooking a couple of burgers.

She wasn’t naïve.

Whatever had been between them all those many years ago was still there. She didn’t think it had ever gone away, not entirely. It had been dormant while they were apart, living separate lives, his full of adventure and new places, hers mundane and painfully ordinary despite how extraordinary she was supposed to be, but as the days stretched into weeks and then into months with them co-existing under the same roof and spending more and more time together, it was making itself known once more.

She looked forward to their twice a week dinners. She hadn’t been sure why she had agreed to them at first, but here they were, on their fifth one, and they had become the best part of her week. She liked running into him around school, joining him at the breakfast table, even sitting in his office discussing the threat hanging over them. Everything else was so up in the air. Her life was a mess even without the Sons of Angels waiting outside the Academy walls. But twice a week dinners with Nick felt like something she could count on when nothing else was certain.

She felt like she could count on him.

She wasn’t sure if that was reassuring or terrifying.

“Done with those potatoes?” he asked. He stood before her, drying his hands off. Already, the air was beginning to smell of burgers and spice from whatever he had used to season the meat.

“I am,” she confirmed. “What now?”

Nick opened a cabinet and retrieved a bowl.

“Put them in this.” Sabrina did as instructed. He found Hilda’s olive oil and poured it liberally. “Shake some salt and pepper on them? Just to taste.” Sabrina shot him a curious glance as he crossed the kitchen and disappeared into the pantry. He emerged with a plastic shaker of something Sabrina had never seen before. “Hilda thought I was crazy for buying this but wait until she tries it. She’s going to buy it in bulk and use it daily.”

“What is it?” Sabrina questioned as he tore off the plastic seal.

“Nutritional yeast.”

“I’m sorry, it’s what?” Sabrina wondered.

“Nutritional yeast.” He shook a heavy-handed amount of yellow flakes all over the potatoes. “Mix all that together?” He went back to the stove to flip the burgers. Sabrina eyed the now orangey-yellow potatoes suspiciously.

“What, exactly, is nutritional yeast?”

“It’s – nutritional yeast.” Nick came back to her. “It’s delicious, I promise. It tastes like cheese.”

“It’s yeast,” she stated. As far as she knew, yeast was used for baking bread, not roasting homemade fries.

“It’s deactivated yeast,” Nick explained. “I put it on everything.” He reached for the bowl, plucked a rubber spatula from the utensil holder, and used it to move the potatoes around, coating them well in the mixture. He shook still more yellow flakes onto it and mixed again. “That should do it. If I put them in now, they should finish right with the burgers.”

Instead of going for the oven like Sabrina thought he would, Nick went for Hilda’s air fryer. She opted not to comment. She had seen enough of him in the kitchen to know he knew what he was doing and hoped for his sake that he didn’t damage Hilda’s current favorite kitchen appliance.

“Want something to drink?” she asked, sliding off of her stool.

“At the risk of sounding like a total dude, would you mind grabbing one of the beers Ambrose and I hid in the back of the bottom drawer?” he requested. “Assuming Ambrose hasn’t drank them all?”

“You and Ambrose have become, like, bros,” Sabrina observed. “Bonding over junk food and witch hunters.” She recalled the budding friendship forming between them while they fought the Eldritch Terrors, the two feeding off of one another’s intelligence and expertise in their respective subjects. She was happy to see that friendship reborn.

“There aren’t many adult warlocks in this place,” Nick reminded her. “Me, Ambrose, Melvin. That Roan guy that teaches spellcasting. That’s it. I like Melvin just fine, but I can’t hang out with him in long spurts. And Roan…”

“Is strange even by our standards,” Sabrina agreed. She decided to help herself to one of their beers. She didn’t drink beer often, but she liked it well enough and she could tell by the bottle that Nick, of course, did not buy the cheap domestic beer Harvey usually had on hand. Even now, he liked the finer things. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” he accepted the bottle and expertly hit the cap against the counter at just the right angle, sending it flying. Sabrina looked from him to her own beer, realizing she would need a bottle opener. Or magic. Nick grinned and held out his hand. “Give it here.” Sabrina held the bottle out to him with a wry look. He took it, repeated the same motion, and let the cap go flying to join the other one. “Only way to do it.”

“Such a bro,” Sabrina quipped. He chuckled and watched her as she took a tentative sip from the bottle. He didn’t think he had ever seen her drink a beer before.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“It’s – good.” She sounded surprised. “I like it.”

“It’s a stout,” he told her. “A dark beer.”

“It’s not bad.” She took a more confident sip. She really liked it, more than she expected to. She watched Nick pick at the label. He glanced over his shoulder, checking the burgers, then resumed peeling it. “Something on your mind?” she prompted.

Nick looked at her.

“I feel like I owe you an explanation,” he ventured. “About the beer.”

She frowned.

“What do you need to explain?”

“I’d think you’d remember how well I handled alcohol once upon a time.” Nick turned the bottle in his hand. “I’ve learned how to control it. I can have a beer or a glass of bourbon and it not take over.”

That same heavy silence fell over them. It was Sabrina who made the effort to lift it this time.

“It was never the alcohol though, was it?” she said. Nick shook his head.

“No,” he agreed, “it wasn’t.” He continued picking at his label. “For the record, I haven’t touched a drug since Ambrose…”

“Good,” Sabrina nodded her approval. She gave him a bit of a smile. “Thanks for sharing your beer with me – and for being honest.”

“Lying has gotten me in a lot of trouble in the past.” He offered no more as he got up and went to the stove to check the burgers. Sabrina continued to watch him covertly. He still dressed the same, classic button downs and dress pants when he was teaching, more casual jeans and long sleeves when he wasn’t standing before a classroom. Something about that further comforted Sabrina. Something about him hadn’t changed all that much. “Burgers are almost done,” he announced. “I think I want bacon on mine. How about you?”

“I could go for some bacon,” Sabrina agreed. She slid off her stool again. “Do you have specific toppings in mind, Scratch? Or am I free to get whatever out of the fridge?”

“Avocado, bacon, fried eggs, and cheese,” he said. “I’ve already got the eggs. Mind grabbing the cheese for me?”

She let him focus on the bacon and eggs to finish up their meal, once more sitting on her stool. He had done most of the work tonight, but she didn’t think he minded. She didn’t either. It was hard for her in the days right after Harvey died, to sit back and let someone else do something for her when she was so used to doing everything for someone else. It was – nice – to have someone else, someone besides Hilda, cooking for her, especially someone who seemed to want to.

Ten minutes later, they sat across from one another, their burgers stacked high with Nick’s out-of-the-box toppings. She eyed the fries skeptically. They did look to have cheese baked on them.

“Try them,” Nick prompted. “I swear you’re going to like them.”

Sabrina picked up a lone fry and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. She had been prepared to spit it out. Instead, it was delicious.

“You did it again, Scratch,” she stated. He chuckled and picked up his burger.

“Told you,” he said smugly.

They didn’t talk much as they ate. Sabrina was thoroughly impressed by his kitchen skills once more. She stuck to more traditional but hearty meals when it was her turn to choose a recipe, things she had learned from Hilda or that fell into the narrow lane of meat and potato type foods Harvey liked. Nick brought something standard, like a taco or burger, but with a unique spin.

The quiet gave her the time to build up the courage to ask him something she had been wondering about more and more as she spent time with him.

“Nick?”

“Sabrina?” he countered.

“Can I ask you something? You can reserve the right not to answer me.”

“Sounds like it’s personal,” Nick deciphered.

“It is,” Sabrina nodded. “Perhaps a little awkward.”

“Let’s hear it,” Nick prompted. Sabrina took a deep breath and looked right at him.

“Have you… Did you…” She stopped and reset herself. “Have you – dated – anyone? I mean, I’m sure you have. It’s been fifty years. I was just… Wondering… I suppose you could have even been married…”

She really wished she hadn’t asked.

She dared to look at Nick. He looked as patient and unfazed as ever. She wondered what it would take to actually rattle him these days. Part of her was curious to find out.

“I’ve dated. No marriages, but there were relationships.” He picked up one of the few fries left on his plate but didn’t eat it. He chose honesty while also guarding himself. “One-night stands were the order of business during undergrad. I lived with a guy during med school, but he was mortal and, well, frankly, Sabrina, I wasn’t interested in trying to hide who I am.”

“That’s fair,” she muttered. She wished she could say the same about herself in hindsight.

“I dated a witch and a warlock – a Weird Sisters sort of situation, minus the mind control – for a while. That got complicated and the warlock wasn’t all that stable. Tried the whole domestic thing with a witch I met in Croatia, but she wasn’t into it. I wasn’t either, in the end. It was a year of good sex, nothing more.”

Sabrina still had some burger left and a few fries of her own, but she wasn’t hungry anymore.

“The closest thing to a real relationship I had was with a warlock named Henry. It lasted a few years. He was a good guy.” Nick smiled as he thought of him. “A really good guy.” Sabrina found she doubted that, not that she had anything to base it on. She just hated Nick’s fond smile and it was easier to think of the guy as terrible than as a person Nick had feelings for. “But I was restless, and Africa was calling. Now,” he shrugged, “I’m here.”

He had told her the truth, leaving out the fact that he wasn’t exactly loyal to Henry. They had an open relationship and it wasn’t unusual for them to have guests in their bed, but it wasn’t the physical connections that had caused the rift between them. His tried and failed relationships all had one common denominator – the whisper of a girl with platinum hair and ruby lips that had shown him what it was like to love and be loved beyond reason.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Nick let himself into his apartment with trepidation. Henry was there, perched in his usual armchair, reading a newspaper in the morning light. He lowered it to look at Nick._

_“Hey,” Nick greeted lamely._

_“Hey,” Henry replied as he appraised his haggard appearance. “Rough night?”_

_“Something like that.” He had gone to a bar after spending the day working at the clinic he was currently employed at. He hadn’t drank a lot, but he had certainly flirted with the bartender and ended up going home with him. “Sorry I’m just getting home.”_

_It was a weak apology. Henry sighed and put his paper aside._

_“I can’t do this, Nick.”_

_“Do what?” Nick wondered. He settled on the couch, even if he wanted to climb into bed and sleep for a few hours after the night he had._

_“This.” Henry motioned between them. “You and me. I can’t do it.”_

_Nick frowned._

_“Are you breaking up with me?”_

_“I think it’s best,” Henry nodded. “You aren’t in this, Nick. Haven’t ever been, really. I feel like there’s someone else…”_

_“We have an open relationship,” Nick cut him off. “You know that. You agreed to it. Heaven, you brought home a mortal woman for us last week.”_

_“I did,” Henry nodded. “That’s not what I mean. I’m fine with sharing physically. What I mean is that there is someone else. Someone from your past. Someone or something that holds you back from being able to commit to a relationship. I love you, Nick, but I don’t think you can return the sentiment. I’ve been waiting to be proven wrong, but it’s been three years now and I can’t wait around any longer.”_

_Nick took his time replying._

_“Love is hard for me,” he stated. “Always has been. I told you that, too.” He had told Henry more than he told most, yet still had told him very little._

_“Why?” Henry wondered. “Why is love hard for you?”_

_“Just is,” Nick tried. He made to stand up. “I suppose if we’re breaking up, I should pack my stuff. This is your place after all…”_

_“Sit down, Nick,” Henry directed. “You’re doing it again.”_

_“Doing what again?”_

_“Trying to skip out on a difficult conversation. Anytime things get tough, you do this. You find a way to take off.”_

_“We’re breaking up. Doesn’t that give me a right to take off?”_

_“I think the fact that you’re taking the end of a three-year relationship so casually proves what I’m trying to say,” Henry pushed. “What happened, Nick? I’m an empath, remember? I can feel your moods, your emotions. You go to a place deep within sometimes that feels heavy, dark What caused that place?”_

_“It’s in the past,” Nick tried. “Not worth dredging it up.”_

_“Who were they?” Henry pressed. “This person that you cared so much for? That still has a hold on you? That keeps you from giving yourself fully to our relationship?” Nick was quiet. “You can talk to me, Nick. I might be ending our relationship, but I’m still your friend. I still care.”_

_“Ah, friends,” Nick said, remembering the time he had said as much to Sabrina and how much it had hurt both of them. “Excellent.”_

_“Who was it?” Henry pressed. “What happened?” Again, Nick was quiet. “It would help, talking about it.”_

_Nick found he wanted to. He hadn’t spoke of Sabrina Spellman to anyone since he left Greendale, but he had thought of her often, constantly at first, less as he distracted himself with living his life, still far more often than one should think of an ex from more than forty-five years ago. He trusted Henry in a way he hadn’t trusted anyone since Sabrina. He would listen without judgment._

_“Sabrina,” he said in a low voice. “Her name is Sabrina. Sabrina Spellman.”_

_“That name is vaguely familiar,” Henry said. “I’ve heard it before.”_

_“She’s the daughter of a mortal woman and the Dark Lord himself,” Nick shared._

_“Ah yes,” Henry nodded, remembering now. The celestial girl was known throughout their world for what she had done as a teenager. “She’s done some incredible things. You knew her?”_

_“I loved her,” Nick corrected. “I met her at a time when I had no idea what love was, when I operated on lust alone. She taught me how to love. We went through a lot together.”_

_“Wait,” Henry said as something occurred to him. “There’s a story that her boyfriend went to Hell to save her from the Dark Lord…”_

_“I’m the boyfriend,” Nick confirmed. “I housed the Dark Lord so he wouldn’t hurt her, or our coven. When she got me out of there…” He shook his head. “A lot happened. We broke up, but I missed her. It took some time, but I got her to forgive me. Of course, the Eldritch Terrors came along…”_

_“You were involved with that?” Henry cut him off again. “I feel like I hardly know you…”_

_It was perplexing, that the warlock seated before him had been a part of all of the myths and legends he heard about a coven in North America with a half mortal, half celestial among them. Nick had always been vague about his past. Henry understood why a bit more now._

_“It was a dark time,” Nick said, not offering more. “Sabrina… She died to save us from The Void. Hecate brought her back, but it took some time. I thought I had lost her in the most final way I could. I tried to join her in the afterlife, even got close once, close enough to have a moment with her, before I was pulled back to this realm.”_

_He closed his eyes and shook his head as he recalled the look of terror on Prudence’s face when she pulled him from the Sea of Sorrows and forced air back into his lungs. It had nothing on how he felt when Sabrina came back to life a few hours later, accompanied by Hecate herself, and he had realized how close he had come to leaving the world she would come back to._

_“Nicholas,” Henry shook his head in disbelief._

_“It was okay for a few weeks,” Nick rushed on. “She was back and that was all I cared about. But she was different. You can’t die and come back to life without being different.”_

_“I suppose not,” Henry agreed._

_“She had been struggling with who she was, where she fit in, before everything with the Eldritch Terrors happened.” He left out most of the story. It was too complicated to explain. “After things were settled, that got more pronounced. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized she needed time. She needed to figure out who she was, what she wanted. I had made this big declaration to her that we were endgame, that she was it for me. I really believed it.” He smiled ruefully. “I guess I was more like mortals in that way, thinking my high school sweetheart would be with me forever. She was leaning on me, and I didn’t mind, but I knew her. I knew how fierce she was, how independent and strong she was. I wanted her to find her own two feet again, and it was so unlike her to rely so heavily on someone, especially a man.” He pursed his lips as he recalled those days when Sabrina clung to him, when she would tear up at the drop of a hat, worry her lip when she told him goodnight as though she were afraid he wouldn’t still be there in the morning. “So I did the thing I swore I’d never do again. I broke up with her to give her a chance to find herself again. I left Greendale right after.”_

_Henry absorbed this information._

_“You loved her, and she was going through a hard time, so you broke up with her,” he clarified. Nick heard the accusation in his voice._

_“She needed space,” Nick tried to explain. It had made sense to him at the time. Now, it was harder to explain. “She needed to spend time with her family, reconnect with them, reconnect with herself. I was afraid she wouldn’t find herself again if I stayed. I was afraid she would become one of those women that relied on a man for everything and that’s absolutely not who she is. I’ve always loved her beyond reason. I’ve always put her first. It killed me to see her so broken down.”_

_“You regret leaving her,” Henry observed._

_“It’s the biggest regret of my life,” Nick confessed. “I loved her, Henry. Heaven, I still love her. His smile was sad. “She’s married now. Married her first love, a mortal named Harvey. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was loyal enough back then. I can only hope he’s made her happy all these years.”_

_“You wish it was you though,” Henry continued._

_“I do,” Nick admitted. He blinked back the threat of tears. “I know now that leaving wasn’t the right thing. I was young and I hadn’t really worked through my own shit at that point and trust me, there was a lot of it to wade through. She needed me to be there, to be the shoulder she needed. I was so desperate to see her fly again that I shoved her out of the nest too soon and didn’t have the courtesy to way around to see if she flew.”_

_“How old were you, exactly?” Henry wondered._

_“She was seventeen, I was nineteen,” Nick revealed. “I fought so hard to get her back, only to walk away again. I know now that a lot of it was on me. I spent most of undergrad processing that year of my life, but other things, too. There hadn’t been time before. It was one threat after another and we were all just pushing through to survive.”_

_“People in our world underestimate the value of mental health,” Henry said as Nick’s deep mood swings that he tried to hide began to make more sense. “Both magic and mortal. Leaving her might have been the wrong move, but you should give yourself some grace. You weren’t healthy either. You didn’t know how to deal with what was before you when you yourself had trauma to navigate.”_

_“Hindsight is twenty-twenty as the mortals say.” Nick exhaled a long breath and wished for the countless time over that he had better understood things back then. He could have stayed in Greendale. He could have continued to hold Sabrina’s hand while they both worked through things. Instead, he had made things worse. “I know I haven’t been a good partner, Henry. But you? You’re the closest I’ve let myself get to those feelings since Sabrina. I can’t love you the way you want. But I do care for you. I’m sorry I can’t give you what you need.”_

_Henry blinked back his own tears._

_“I always suspected you gave your heart away a long time ago,” he admitted. “Watching you now, listening to you talk about Sabrina, I know it’s true.” He smiled a small, sad smile. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about someone or something with absolute love.”_

_“There’s a part of me that hopes our paths will cross again,” Nick confessed. “Her Aunt Zelda has reached out to me a few times over the years, offered me a position teaching at the Academy she heads. I’ve always turned it down. I can’t be in Greendale while Sabrina is married to someone else. But there’s a small part of me that thinks maybe, just maybe, I’ll get another chance, someday.”_

_“Perks of having centuries to live,” Henry quipped. “You haven’t even made it a full one yet.”_

_“I really am sorry, Henry,” Nick said again. “It’s always been Sabrina, even when I haven’t wanted it to be.”_

_“We might be warlocks, but we’re still human,” Henry said. “We still experience emotions, feelings. We still form connections.” He gave Nick a look. “We still make really poor decisions as teenagers, especially when we’re out of our depth like you were, trying to cope with everything the two of you had been through, trying to help her heal however twisted your logic was.” Nick sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. Poor decisions indeed. “Perhaps there’s something linking you to Sabrina that’s bigger than teenage love.”_

_“Perhaps.” Nick wanted to believe that, but after all he had put Sabrina through, after leaving her when he now understood she needed him more than she ever had, he couldn’t see it as a possibility. “Regardless, it will be a while before our paths have the chance to cross again.” He gave Henry a long look. “So that’s it for us, huh?”_

_“I’m still your friend, Nick, as cliché as that might sound.”_

_“Not a cliché at all,” Nick shook his head. He managed a half smile. “Honestly? I was getting restless. This is the longest I’ve been in one place in a while.”_

_“You’ve already got a plan in mind, don’t you?” Henry guessed._

_“It’s been a while since I’ve been out in the field,” Nick said. “I’ve had the itch to get back to that, traveling, treating people without access to medical care. Africa has been calling my name.”_

_“Always the wanderer,” Henry observed._

_“For now,” Nick nodded. “Maybe not always. Maybe someday, I might finally find my place.”_

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

“Now you’re here,” Sabrina echoed. She forced herself to smile at him. “I’m glad you’ve had people. I wanted that for you.”

The part of her that wasn’t wrestling with something that might be akin to jealousy was relieved to know he hadn’t been alone. She had worried about that in the early days, that he was somewhere out in the world with no one. She wanted to ask him about why he left Greendale, left her, but she refrained. Learning about his relationships was enough for tonight.

Nick sensed it was time to change the subject.

“Tell me about that ring of yours,” he nodded towards the emerald that sat perched on a simple thin gold band on her right ring finger. He had noticed it a few weeks ago and she never took it off. Her wedding and engagement rings, however, had disappeared sometime between Harvey’s funeral and the first time he saw her since their confrontation in the woods right after it.

“It was my mom’s.” She spun it around on her finger. “I found it in my jewelry box when I was packing. My aunts gave it to me when I turned thirteen. It’s a little too big, so I was afraid to wear it as a teenager. It feels right to wear it now, though.”

“It’s a beautiful ring.” Not for the first time, he wished he had something of his parents. Amalia had grabbed him and taken off at a run as the witch hunters stormed his home. It had been torched and was no more than a pile of smoldering ruins when they had cautiously returned a few days later in hopes of finding – anything. “Green suits you.”

He hadn’t meant to say that, but it had come out and he couldn’t take it back.

“Really?” she asked. “I’ve always been told red…”

“Red definitely,” he nodded, thinking of her lips. “But green, too. Deep green, like that emerald.”

She could only smile at him.

They finished up their dinner – he noted that she didn’t finish her meal, but let it go – and set to work on the dishes. He often used magic for household chores, but he found the mortal way of doing dishes to be oddly cathartic. He thought that might have something to do with spending more time around Sabrina by doing it the hard way. Tonight, she washed while he dried.

“That’s the last of it.” She passed him the air fryer basket and stuck her hand in the dish water to pull the drain. “We just need to wipe the counters down.” She picked up a dishtowel to dry her hands. When she tossed it aside, she caught sight of her hand. Her gasp startled Nick. He dropped the basket with a loud clatter.

“What?” he spun to her. “What’s wrong?”

“My ring!” She lunged for the sink. It held nothing but soap suds. “It must have slipped off while I was washing dishes!” She stuck her hand down the drain, but it didn’t go far. “Dammit!”

She was near tears. It was one of the only things she had of her mother’s and after everything she had been through over the last few months – the last fifty years – losing it felt like the final blow. Nick watched her bottom lip quiver. He stooped down, picked up the basket, and placed it on the counter.

“It’s probably in the u-bend of the drain. I can take it apart and look.”

“You think it’s there?” she asked. “It didn’t wash away?”

“I can’t make any promises. But it’s worth a look.” He gently moved her aside and opened the cabinet to peer under the sink. He straightened up and muttered a spell. A pipe wrench appeared in his hand.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Sabrina asked skeptically.

“Not entirely, but more so than any other warlock in this place,” he reasoned.

Hilda had crammed the space full of cleaning products. He moved them out of the way and turned the knob to shut off the water. It was uncomfortable, his broad shoulders filling the tight space, but he twisted the wrench around the pipe. He was aware of Sabrina hovering close by. Her shadow prevented what little light could filter in from the kitchen. He had no choice but to back out of the tight space.

“Did you find it?” she asked hopefully.

“I haven’t gotten the pipe off yet,” he told her. “Can I ask you to move a few steps away? You’re blocking the light and I can’t see.”

“Oh!” she looked flustered. “Sure…” She nearly tripped over a bottle of toilet cleaner. “Sorry…”

“Careful,” he said with a smile. “And don’t apologize. You weren’t doing anything wrong.”

Sabrina smiled a bit. He winked at her and crawled back under the sink.

“What on earth is going on in here?”

Zelda waltzed in and went straight for the fridge.

“I lost my mom’s ring,” Sabrina reported. “Nick is checking to see if it’s in the pipe.”

“Seems to be a lot of hullabaloo,” Zelda observed. She eyed Sabrina. “What exactly were you doing to lose your ring in the first place?”

“Washing dishes.”

“Dishes?” Zelda repeated with a sense of disgust. “Why?”

“Because Hilda would kill us if we didn’t clean up our dinner.”

Zelda looked painfully curious.

“Dinner?”

“Hilda’s night off,” Sabrina shrugged, hoping her aunt didn’t make a big deal out of it. “We had to eat. I assume that’s why you’re down here?”

“Yes, well, it would be in poor taste to drink my calories, wouldn’t it?” Zelda drawled. Sabrina snorted. It wouldn’t have been the first time Zelda had indulged in a liquid dinner. “I shall not be cooking, however. A cheese and fruit assortment will do just fine.”

“It’ll go nicely with your martini,” Sabrina countered. Zelda raised an eyebrow.

“It seems your smart mouth is making a comeback.”

“Found it.”

Sabrina spun towards Nick. He was standing there a bit disheveled and dirty, but he held her ring firmly between his thumb and forefinger.

“Nick!” Sabrina rushed the few steps towards him. “You found it!”

“It was right where I thought it would be.” He caught her hand in his as she reached for it. “I even cleaned it up for you, got the gunk off.” He slipped the ring onto her right ring finger. Neither of them paid any mind to Zelda who stood framed by the open fridge door, arms crossed, watching them with interest. “There you go.”

Sabrina looked up at him for a moment, her brown eyes on his. Something passed between them that neither of them could deny, nor were they willing to address. She glanced down at her ring.

“Wait…” She shook her hand. The ring barely budged. “It fits…”

“I sized it down,” Nick confessed. “So you don’t lose it again.”

Sabrina beamed.

“Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much…”

“It’s your mom’s ring,” Nick said. “It’s the kind of thing you dismantle a kitchen sink for.”

Sabrina let her instincts guide her. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Nick in a hug. He was slower, but he wrapped her in his arms all the same. It felt damned good to hold her again.

“Thank you,” Sabrina said again as she pulled away with some reluctance. “This ring means everything to me.” She looked around at the mess they had created. “I’ll help you clean up…”

“Unfortunately, Nicholas is going to be left to clean this mess on his own,” Zelda spoke up. “Sabrina, your little friend Iris was searching for you. Something about Brothers Grimm.”

Sabrina looked torn. She had developed a certain fondness for Iris. They had become one another’s friend, despite their sixty-year age difference. She found the little girl clever, entertaining. But she felt responsible for the mess the kitchen had become.

“Go on, Sabrina,” Nick encouraged. “Iris needs you more than I need your help putting the sink back together.” He had noticed their friendship too and thought both of them benefited from their time spent together. “I assure you it’s a one-man job.”

“But all this mess…”

“It’s not a big deal,” Nick insisted. “Go.”

It took Sabrina a moment to nod her agreement.

“Okay,” she said. “Thank you again, Nick.” Her thumb rubbed against the band of her ring as reassurance that it was there. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Nick echoed.

Zelda waited until she was certain Sabrina was out of earshot, then turned her attention to Nick.

“You could have used magic,” she stated. “A simple summoning spell would have been sufficient.”

“I know.”

As though to prove his point, Nick used magic to swiftly replace the pipe and return the cleaning products under the sink. Another spell scrubbed away any trace of mess left on the counters from dinner.

“What did you do?” Zelda pressed. “Just now?”

“I got Sabrina’s ring back,” he answered. “It means a lot to her.”

“Hmm,” Zelda hummed. “You’ll note that I don’t buy it.”

“Have a good evening, Sister Spellman,” Nick said by way of an answer. “I’ve got homework to grade.”

He left Zelda in the kitchen, aware that she was smirking as he walked away. He took his phone out of his back pocket as he made his way through the Academy. A new text caught his attention.

_Checking in. How are things going over there?_

Nick smiled.

Henry.

_Well enough. Classes are good. Just finished dinner. Gonna grade homework before bed._

_If you ever need a break or want some company…_

Nick’s smile grew.

_I know._

He exhaled a long breath as he wandered down the hall towards his quarters.

In another world, he thought he could be happy with Henry. He was a good man, solid, dependable. Henry wasn’t as powerful as him, didn’t lose hours to reading ancient books out of no more than curiosity. But he was good, and together, they had had a good thing.

But that wasn’t how the cards had fallen.

Sabrina Spellman had stepped into a choir room and his eighteen-year-old heart had practically ripped itself from his chest and presented itself to her on a silver platter. Sometimes he felt a bit pathetic for the way he had clung to her all these years.

But tonight, when she laughed in the kitchen, he knew why.

His heart still belonged to her.

Fifty years hadn’t changed that.

Henry – nor anyone else – had never stood a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I really loved about Part 4 was the Nick/Ambrose relationship. So much wasted opportunity by not having those two together more often. 
> 
> In this fic, I wanted Nick to have not moped around, waiting for Sabrina. He held onto her, of course, but he lived a life, didn't pine for her. He had relationships. Henry was the closest thing he had to falling in love again. As he said, they had a good thing. Sabrina though? Not a fan of Henry on principle. Things are rapidly intensifying between them and, well, where there's smoke there's fire, right? 
> 
> We also got a little look into Nick's thought process in leaving Greendale. I HATED how nothing he went through was mentioned in Part 4. It was made to seem like he cheated and that was that. No, all of them went through some horrific things and I'll step off my soapbox, but a bunch of teenagers wouldn't be okay after all of that. 
> 
> Anyway. Off of soapbox. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this one - and of Henry!


	9. You're The Wrecking Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Nick puts it, let's break a rule or two.

“No.”

“Ambrose…”

“No.”

“But…”

“No!” Ambrose tossed his pen to his desk. “You’re absolutely not doing anything of the sort.”

“It’s the only way…”

“It’s not,” Ambrose shook his head. Sabrina stamped her foot.

“Yes, it is!”

Ambrose stared at her.

“Did you just stamp your foot?”

“You’re annoying me,” she stated, hands on her hips. “You know I’m onto something here. You know this could work…”

“It’s not worth the risk,” Ambrose shook his head, still staunchly in disagreement with his cousin. “Here I missed you being rash and unpredictable, and you come in here with an idea worse than my resurrection and Nick’s séance.”

Sabrina frowned, momentarily sidetracked.

“Nick had a séance?”

“He mentioned it, but unlike you, he’s rational and dismissed it for the terrible idea it was.”

“Ambrose, let me do this,” Sabrina sighed. “You know I can.”

“It’s not a matter of can or can’t,” Ambrose pressed back. “It’s a matter of should or should not. And you most certainly should not.”

“But…”

Ambrose held up his left hand to silence her.

“The audacity you have right now…” Sabrina started.

Ambrose ignored her and picked up his phone with the other. He tapped the screen a couple of times before it beeped and he began to talk.

“Nick, come to my office. Immediately.” He put the phone down and lowered his hands to his lap. “Love the iPhone,” he said to Sabrina as she glowered at him. “Text to talk is brilliant. So much easier than a witch’s mirror.”

“What did you summon Nick for?” Sabrina half demanded.

“So he can talk some sense into you,” Ambrose stated with a wave of his hand. Sabrina glared. It was mere moments before Ambrose’s office door flew open with a bang. Nick was there, cheeks flushed from his rush through the hall.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “I’ve got a class full…” He stopped when he saw Sabrina. She looked annoyed. Ambrose wore a similar impression. “Dare I ask?”

“Tell him,” Ambrose said to Sabrina with a jerk of his head towards Nick. “Go on.”

“Tell me what?” Nick asked, eyes on her.

“She’s had herself an idea,” Ambrose continued, not letting Sabrina speak. Sabrina picked up the nearest object – the chapstick she kept in her back pocket – and hurled it at Ambrose. He caught it without missing a beat. “A brilliant one if you ask her, a bloody awful one if you ask me.”

“What are you up to, Sabrina?” Nick wondered with trepidation. He saw it, that look in her eyes she would have so long ago when she was up to something that wasn’t necessarily the best of ideas. He would have been relieved to see it if their situation with the Sons of Angels wasn’t so precarious and unknown.

“I’m baptized,” she began. Nick was already shaking his head.

“No.”

Sabrina scoffed.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say!”

“I know enough to know you’ve deduced that you’re baptized and can likely infiltrate the Sons of Angels,” Nick countered. “No, Sabrina. Absolutely not.”

_Absolutely not._

She remembered the last time he had used those words. They were eclipsed only by his declaration of love for her moments before he absorbed the Dark Lord. She pushed the thought out of her mind. She couldn’t think about that moment fifty years ago now.

“We don’t have a better plan,” she argued. “We’re just sitting here, waiting…”

“I’d rather us sit here waiting than send you in there all alone,” Nick shot back. “Your husband is the one that sold you out to them. They want us all, but they want you above all else. It’s not happening. You can forget it.”

“I can find out more about them,” Sabrina insisted anyway. “I can see how they’re protected, maybe even find out more about them, what their plans are…”

“Their plan is to kill us all,” Ambrose supplied. “It’s too dangerous, Sabrina. You’re not doing it. Discussion over.”

“I can’t just sit here!” she erupted. “Nick said it – my husband is the one that sold us out. I should be the one that gets us out of this.”

“You can’t go up against them on your own,” Nick said. “We can’t let you go in alone either. None of us can help you if you get into trouble. I know you want answers and that you want to stop them before they hurt your family and your coven. We all want that. But you can’t do this alone, Sabrina.”

“He’s right,” Ambrose jumped in. “While the sudden return of your courage is welcomed, let’s not let it get in the way of sanity.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Sabrina asked, looking between them. “It’s been weeks, and nothing has changed. We’re still locked down in this Academy and they’re still out there somewhere, biding their time. You two spend nearly all of your free time pouring through books and combing through Harvey’s cell phone, but you have yet to actually come up with a idea. So I’m asking again. What’s the plan?”

No one had an answer.

“At least this is something,” she said after a stretch of silence. “It could get us somewhere…”

“It’s not worth it,” Nick shook his head. He could list dozens of reasons as to why allowing Sabrina to infiltrate the Sons of Angels was a horrible idea. At the top of that list was the fact that it was too dangerous. “The risk is too great. You go do this, you get in trouble, you know we’ll come after you which means we’ll risk our lives too.”

“And don’t take us telling you no as an invitation to do it anyway,” Ambrose added. “I mean it, Sabrina. We can’t come rescue you without deadly consequences if this goes south.”

“We have to do something,” she insisted. “We can’t keep living like this.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Nick soothed. “We always have.”

“True,” Ambrose nodded. “We’ve always figured it out. It may have been fifty years since our last go around, but I think it still stands to reason that I wouldn’t bet against us.” He fixed his eyes on Sabrina. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

Sabrina held up her hands so she could see them. He had long ago discovered her trick of crossing her fingers when she told a fib.

“I promise,” she said. It had been Nick pointing out that if she went, they would follow that had tempered her desire to act. He was right – they would put their lives at risk to save her and she couldn’t allow that. They were already at risk all because of a marriage vow she took decades earlier. “For now.”

“Best I’m going to get I suppose,” Ambrose sighed. He checked the clock. “I’ve got to check in with Zelda, let her know I finally wrangled the poltergeist that’s been taunting the girls’ dormitory. Behave yourselves, you two.” He stood and exited his office.

“I’ve got a few minutes left of intro binding,” Nick said. “They’ve probably dismantled the classroom by now.” He considered Sabrina. She had promised she wouldn’t do anything rash, but he wasn’t sure he trusted that, not when the idea was fresh and it was eating her alive that Harvey had put their coven at risk. “Why don’t you come with me?”

Sabrina eyed him.

“You don’t trust that I won’t go anyway.”

“Just taking your track record into account,” he countered. “There’s fifteen minutes of class left. Come hang out in the back of the classroom. I’ll wrap up, then we can dig through some of what we know, see if anything new strikes.”

Sabrina sighed again. She didn’t think they would find anything useful in the material. They had looked through it countless times now. But she didn’t have a better plan and she had a feeling Nick wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

“Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll let you play babysitter.”

Neither of them spoke on the short walk down the hall to Nick’s classroom. The class fell silent as Nick walked in, all of them pretending they hadn’t been talking amongst themselves and trying innocent spells out on one another while their teacher was gone. Sabrina drew their eyes as she slipped in behind him and found a place out of the way along the back wall.

“I’m sure all of you were on your best behavior while I was gone,” he said as he picked up a piece of chalk from his desk. “Now, where were we?”

Sabrina watched in a sort of awe as Nick transitioned seamlessly into the role of educator once he was back in his classroom. He was at ease, confident. It was his last class of the day and only now did Sabrina notice he had pushed up the sleeves on his button down from where they had been pinned around his wrist, neat and clasped that morning when she glimpsed him while she had breakfast with Iris. His hair, too, was a little messier. She could see him running his hand through it throughout the day as either frustration or deep thought set in, could see him getting so wrapped up in what he was doing that the shirt sleeves began to feel restrictive, could see him freeing his cuffs as he lectured and shoving the fabric up to his elbows.

His students listened, she noted. He wasn’t one of those teachers that lost half the class. Every eye was on him, absorbing everything he said as they eagerly took notes and asked smart questions. The fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye. He rattled off homework as the class gathered their things and reminded them of an essay due next week.

“You wasted your time with medical school, Scratch,” Sabrina stated when it was just them. “You’re meant to teach.”

She could have sworn Nick blushed.

“I like it,” he admitted. “This last class in particular. They’re a smart group.”

“They have a good teacher,” she countered. She had heard the whispers in study hall and during tutoring sessions. Students liked Nick’s classes. He could be stern, didn’t cut them a lot of slack, but even they saw what she saw – he wanted to teach them what he knew.

“I’m making it up as I go,” he confessed. “So far so good, I guess.”

“You did say you were taking a fly by your seat approach,” Sabrina recalled.

“Zelda is still pissed about that.”

Sabrina chuckled.

“I think you lied when you told Iris I was the only person in this place not afraid of her. You don’t seem to have much of a fear of her yourself.”

“I outgrew my fear of Zelda Spellman a long time ago,” Nick admitted. “But I do still have a healthy respect for her.” He perched on his desk. Sabrina had come forward and settled on one of the student’s desks. “About your plan earlier…”

“I know it’s not a good one,” she cut him off. “But I feel responsible, Nick. I feel like we’re sitting ducks.”

“We’re well protected,” he told her. “As long as we’re inside of this Academy, we’re safe. It’s not ideal, but it won’t be forever. We’ll find a way. As for you being responsible…” He looked her right in the eye. “You are absolutely not responsible for this, Sabrina. You were only ever a good wife to Harvey, even at the expense of your own happiness. You nor anyone else, magic or mortal, should be punished for what they are.” He paused for a beat. “And you should have never had to give up yourself in the name of making him happy.”

Sabrina blinked away the burn of tears. Somehow, Nick knew how to put words to what she was feeling. It did, in fact, feel like she was being punished for being who she was. It was salt in the wounds that the person who had turned her over to the witch hunters was Harvey.

“Should we get to the research?” she asked in a shaky voice, searching for anything to do lest she start digging into her complicated feelings around Harvey and who she had become with Nicholas Scratch, someone who had always seemed to see right through her, even now, even after fifty years apart.

Nick considered her. She looked so sad, so lost. It was like she took two steps forward and three steps back. She couldn’t quite get her footing, no matter how hard she seemed to be trying. An idea began to take shape. He pursed his lips for a moment, considering the pros and cons of it, before making up his mind. She needed this, and if she were with him, she would be a lot safer – and less likely to do something reckless.

“Want to break a rule or two?” he questioned. Sabrina raised her eyebrows.

“What are you implying?” she asked with a heavy dose of skepticism.

“I know what I said about not leaving this place. But… Want to get out of here for a bit?” he proposed. “Go see a movie or get a milkshake or something?”

“How?” Sabrina questioned. “If we walk out the front door, we’ll most likely be shot…” It dawned on her. “You, Ambrose, and Hilda leave this place all the time. Zelda probably does too. How?” She had a lot of questions now that she was thinking about how they were managing their unsanctioned trips to grocery stores and who knew where else. “Where are we going? We can’t go to into town… Not without glamours…”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Nick warned. He slid off the table. “Come on.”

Sabrina was quick to follow him. She trusted him, even if he didn’t answer any of her questions. He led her through the Academy and into the dungeons. She saw how Nick didn’t so much as glance at the one he had been held prisoner in while he contained the Dark Lord. At the end of the long corridor, they came to a stop in front of a stone wall.

“Now what?” she asked. Nick considered her again. She raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Don’t you dare back out now that you’ve got my hopes up for getting out of this place, Scratch.”

“Close your eyes,” he directed.

“Why?” she questioned.

“Just do it, Sabrina.”

“Why?” she tried again.

“Because I don’t want you to see how we get out of here.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You don’t trust that I won’t abuse the privilege.”

“Honestly? Yes.” Sabrina glowered. Nick didn’t back down. “Close your eyes or we’re not going.”

Sabrina huffed, but she did as instructed, sensing Nick was deadly serious about pulling the plug on whatever mission they were up to if she didn’t cooperate. She hadn’t left the Academy in weeks and she was eager to go just about anywhere outside of its walls. She gasped in surprise when his hand fell over her eyes.

“Added precaution,” he offered. “As is this.”

All sound disappeared.

“Dammit, Nick!” Sabrina cried out. Or at least thought she did. Nick had made her temporarily deaf so she couldn’t hear what he was doing either. She was considering kicking out a leg and hoping it made contact with his shins when brisk cool air touched her face. A moment later, the roar of sound rushed back into her ears. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. They focused on Nick He stood before her and looked smug.

“You good?” he asked.

“Where are we?” she countered.

“Hartford,” he answered. “Far enough from Greendale that we should be free of the Sons, not so far that we can’t get back in a hurry if we needed to.”

“Minus the part where you covered my eyes and made me deaf, I’m impressed,” Sabrina approved. “Where to now?”

“That’s up to you,” Nick shrugged. “Our first job should probably be getting out of this alley, though.” Sabrina noticed then that Nick had, in fact, teleported them into a narrow alley where they were less likely to be seen when they appeared form thin air.

“Let’s see what’s out there,” she agreed. Together, they stepped out onto the bustling sidewalk. In an instant, Sabrina felt – alive. She hadn’t left Greendale in twenty years, her last trip one to the beach that Harvey had begrudgingly agreed to after a lot of pestering. She had wished they had never left Greendale by the time they got there and she had been miserable the entire time. “My Hecate, it’s nice to be out of Greendale,” she breathed.

Nick took her in for a moment. She looked – free. Relieved. Like a weight had lifted off her shoulders just by being taken away from the Academy, away from Greendale. He had no regrets about sneaking the both of them out. She had definitely needed this.

“Looks like there’s a movie theater up ahead.” He pointed out a marquee in the distance. “How about it?”

Sabrina considered the idea of going to a movie for only a moment before she shook her head.

“I want to be outside,” she determined. “Even if its chilly out. I’ve spent so much time indoors, not just since the Sons, but taking care of Harvey in those last months. And honestly? I feel like I’ve watched every movie there is while trapped indoors.”

“Then we’ll stay outside,” Nick agreed. Neither of them were dressed for the cool fall temperatures, but he thought they could manage for a couple of hours. “Honestly, I’m with you. I’m not used to being trapped inside.”

“You’re used to living in remote villages with limited access to supplies,” Sabrina understood.

“The ability to conjure basic food staples makes you quite popular in some places,” Nick told her. “So long as they don’t figure out you’re a warlock and producing it out of thin air.”

“What’s your favorite place you’ve been?” Sabrina asked, seizing the opportunity to learn more about him and where he had been over the years.

“That’s a hard question.” Nick thought about it. “I met some incredible people in a lot of incredible places. Sri Lanka comes to mind. Uganda. Zimbabwe. Papua New Guinea really took a piece of my heart.” He put a hand on her elbow and moved her closer to him as a small child on a scooter raced by, followed by a harrowed looking mother calling out for him to slow down. “If you were to teleport away to any destination in the world, where would it be?” he asked.

“You’ll probably make fun of me because it’s no remote village,” she warned.

“I won’t,” Nick promised. “Tell me.”

“Paris,” Sabrina admitted. “There’s something about it that has always called out to me. I’ve been places – usually in an attempt to save the world – but I’ve never been somewhere I’ve truly wanted to go and I haven’t left Greendale in a really long time. I know it’s so touristy and cheesy, but I want to go to the Eiffel Tower, and visit the Louvre and have a croissant by the Seine, all of that stereotypical Parisian stuff…” Nick was smiling at her. “What?”

“Just thinking you’ll get to Paris sooner rather than later.” He offered no more, but he couldn’t help but envision a time in which he could take Sabrina there, hold her hand while they strolled along the Seine, take a selfie at the top of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps enjoy a romantic dinner with Paris twinkling around them. “You know, I’ve never been to Paris.”

“Please,” Sabrina scoffed. “You’ve been everywhere.”

“I’ve been a lot of places,” he agreed. “Just never Paris. I haven’t spent much time in France at all. Just some of the villages in the northwestern part, because they were close to Germany.”

“Did you live in Germany?” Sabrina wondered.

“I did,” Nick confirmed. “That’s where Henry and I were.”

Something twitched inside of Sabrina at the mention of Henry. It was jealousy and she knew it. It was also entirely unfair of her to feel that way. Nick was free to live his own life, to date who he wanted, to do whatever he wanted. But she had picked up on the fondness of which he spoke of Henry when he told her about his past relationships. There was a softness there that hadn’t been present when he talked of med school relationships or complicated threesomes. Henry had met something to him.

“You okay?” he asked, picking up on her shift in demeanor.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m fine. Just – enjoying the fresh air.”

Nick didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push her. He had learned a long time ago to let her come around to sharing what was on her mind when she was ready.

“How about we find somewhere to get a coffee or hot chocolate or something?” he proposed. “It’ll keep us warm while we walk around.”

“Okay,” Sabrina agreed. “Let’s do that.”

They found a coffee shop and took their coffee to go. They ended up in a park, perched on a bench. They sat in silence for a while, people watching and sipping their drinks. Nick’s thoughts were a jumble of wondering what Sabrina was thinking, what was happening at the Academy, how to intercede the Sons of Angels, even debating on whether or not he would grade tests when they got back or skip it in favor of reading for pleasure for the night.

Sabrina, however, could only think of one thing.

“Nick?”

“Yeah?” he pulled his eyes away from watching a dog on a leash desperately trying to gain the freedom to chase a squirrel while its owners picnicked.

“I’m glad you came back.”

It wasn’t what she intended to say. She had intended to bring up the last time she saw him before he left Greendale. She had meant to tell him how it had hurt, how she had thought about chasing after him for weeks, how she didn’t because he had seemed so set on leaving. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t access the level of vulnerability she needed for that conversation, not yet.

Not at the risk of messing up the friendship that had developed between them.

She needed his friendship more now than she ever had.

“I am too,” he said honestly. He thought there was something else on her mind, but again, he didn’t push. She was becoming more and more like herself with each passing day and he didn’t want to jeopardize whatever was forming between them. She would share when she was ready. “It’s good to be back in Greendale. I missed it.”

“You did?” she wondered.

“I did,” Nick nodded.

“I thought you might hate Greendale,” Sabrina admitted. “It put you through a lot.”

 _She_ had put him through a lot. She knew that now.

“True,” Nick agreed. “But it’s still – Greendale.”

Again, he didn’t offer more. He was aware that neither of them were actually talking about Greendale, and that they were spiraling towards a need to have a hard conversation. They were spending more and more time together and he didn’t want that to stop. But there would come a time when they would have to talk about the past. He dreaded it and looked forward to it in equal parts. Only then would they be able to move forward into whatever came next.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” she told him, shifting the subject on purpose. “I needed this.”

“I know,” Nick nodded. “You were teetering on the edge of doing something irrational.”

“It’s weird, being back in this place,” she admitted. “My family, my coven, under attack, me, the reason for it…”

“Sabrina…”

“Don’t tell me I’m not the reason,” she cut him off. Nick shut his mouth. He was about to do exactly that. “Ambrose, Zelda, even Hilda warned me. They told me what would happen if mortals knew about our real identity, even if those mortals were my best friends. Harvey knew my secret for fifty years. It took him until the very end to expose me, but he did, and he put the people I care about at risk. I married him. This is on me, Nick. No one else.”

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree,” Nick argued. “I don’t think any of this is your fault.” He wanted to take her hand, comfort her. Instead, he held his coffee tighter. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, Sabrina. You deserved so much better than what you got from him.”

Again, they were dangerously close to talking about the elephant that stood between them. Nick felt his guilt knocking on the door, begging to get out and lay itself down before Sabrina, beg for her forgiveness. He wrestled it back into the box he tried to keep it in. Sabrina just shook her head.

“It’s done,” she said. “I can’t change the past. None of us can. All we can do is figure out a way forward.”

“We will,” Nick promised her. Something in her knew he meant it. Even when things were at there worst, Nick had a way of coming through for her. He just seemed to have a hard time sticking around. He checked the time. “We should probably get back to the Academy soon.”

“I guess,” she agreed. She was reluctant to return, to give up this freedom and the time with Nick. “But could we maybe get something to eat first? I’m starving.”

“Let’s get some food,” Nick nodded. He wanted to prolong their time away from the Academy together too.

They found a deli nearby and ate their sandwiches at one of the plastic booths to warm up a bit after being outdoors for so long. Their conversation remained light and high level after treading so close to some of the many issues that stood between them. They found another empty alley and Nick teleported them back to the Academy. They emerged in the entry just as Zelda descended the stairs.

“Why am I unsurprised that it’s the pair of you breaking the rules?” she drawled.

“It was that or allow one of the two of us to make a poor decision in the heat of the moment,” Nick explained. “I’ll allow you to deduce which one of us it was.” Sabrina glared at him. He smirked at her. “We’re back, we’re safe. Did we miss anything while we were gone?”

“Only my arrival.”

Prudence glided in, Ambrose not far from behind her. She looked as elegant and predatory as ever. Nick beamed at her.

“Pru,” he said by way of greeting.

“Nicky,” she replied. They shared a hug. “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” Nick agreed. “Two years now, right?”

“Three,” she corrected. “It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise,” he nodded. “What brings you back here?”

“Ambrose reached out,” she said with a wave of her hand. “It seems there are witch hunters after your coven.” She grinned. “Never a dull moment, is it?”

“Not in Greendale,” Nick agreed. Prudence peered past him at Sabrina.

“Sabrina,” she stepped towards the witch. “Sorry about your husband.”

“You didn’t even try to make that believable,” Sabrina observed.

“I didn’t,” Prudence shook her head. “It’s good to see you all the same.”

Sabrina thought she might almost mean it.

“Welcome back to Greendale, Prudence,” she said diplomatically. She thought she might almost mean it too.

“Sabrina?” Zelda spoke. “Hilda has decided the Spellmans are eating as a family in our quarters tonight. You and Ambrose, come along.”

“I’ve already eaten,” Sabrina tried.

“You’ll have to make room then, won’t you?” Zelda asked. “Come, the both of you.” She turned and ascended the stairs.

“Hilda and her meals,” Ambrose sighed.

“It’s Cee’s birthday,” Sabrina realized. “Zelda’s right. I’ll have to make room and eat whatever she’s made. Hilda wants us all around her and food is how she copes.” She turned to Nick before she followed Zelda. “Thank you, Nick. I really did need that.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Nick requested. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Sabrina promised.

“I’m sure I’ll see you both in a bit,” Ambrose said as he looped his arm around Sabrina’s shoulders. He gave Prudence a look that spoke to him seeing _all_ of her later. “Shall we, cousin?”

Prudence waited until they were out of earshot to pounce on Nick.

“Still drinking responsibly?” she asked.

“I am,” he confirmed. “My quarters will have to do, however. Dorian’s is currently off limits, and I’ve pushed my luck with sneaking out of this place today.”

“I’m tired from the travel,” Prudence said. “A nightcap in your quarters will suffice.”

Nick led the way upstairs.

“Ah, my father’s former quarters,” Prudence mused as they arrived. “I pray they’ve been remodeled?”

“Substantially,” Nick confirmed. He let them in and left Prudence to wander in behind him, taking in the place that had once belonged to Faustus Blackwood. “I’m afraid I only have bourbon and beer.”

“Bourbon on the rocks,” Prudence requested as she looked around. “It has definitely been upgraded in here.” The bones of it were the same, all stone and dark wood. But the seating area was larger, the furniture more welcoming. There was more light, too, now that the windows that lined one wall had been uncovered, the heavy shutters that Blackwood had placed over them long gone. She looked across the room at where Nick worked at a sideboard that doubled as his bar. “Doesn’t have a lot of you here though, does it?”

“I was living in a remote part of Papua New Guinea before I came here,” he reminded her. “I didn’t exactly have a truckload of personal belongings.”

He had largely lived out of a backpack for the last however many years, even when he was in some sort of a relationship. When he took the job at the Academy, he had bought an entire new wardrobe and a number of other essential items he just didn’t have the need for when sleeping in tents and huts. The only thing he had held onto over the years was his ever-growing collection of books. He had left them at Henry’s when he took off for Africa by way of Bali, and Henry had been kind enough to send them to him once he was settled in Greendale.

“Always the nomad.” She accepted her drink. “How are you settling here in Greendale?”

“Well enough,” Nick said as they sat down on the comfortable leather couch that came with the quarters. He had no idea who had decorated the place, but it was as though they did so with him in mind. The leather and wood was exactly what he would have chosen. “It didn’t take long for the Sons of Angels to appear, but I suppose that’s on brand for Greendale and the Spellmans.”

“Didn’t take long for you and Sabrina to reconnect either,” Prudence observed.

“She’s had a rough go of it,” Nick replied. “I’m just being her friend. She needs a friend right now.”

“You cannot be a ‘friend’ when it comes to that girl,” Prudence said knowingly. “You know I know you never got over her, Nicky.”

Nick recalled that night with clarity.

“She’s a mess, Prudence,” he said anyway. “That bastard…” Nick trailed off and shook his head. “All I can do right now is be her friend.”

“You want to be more.”

It wasn’t a question.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_“Nicky.”_

_“Prudence.” He leaned in to hug her. “It’s good to see you.”_

_“Likewise.” She waved at the stools. “Shall we?”_

_They sat down together and motioned for the bartender. He ordered a bourbon, her a vodka martini._

_“How have you been, Nicky?”_

_“Well enough,” Nick shrugged. “Just got out of a throuple that proved to be a little too much to handle.”_

_“A throuple,” Prudence repeated. “Leave it to you.”_

_“And you?” he asked. “Any sordid tales to share?”_

_“I too just left a relationship,” she revealed. “Really tried this time.”_

_“Did you try though?” Nick countered with a cheeky grin. He knew Prudence too well to think she had actually tried to hold onto a relationship once she got bored of it._

_“He asked me to move in with him,” Prudence shared. “Worse, he was_ mortal.” _Nick chuckled and took a sip of his bourbon. “I think I’m going to give Ambrose Spellman a call, see if he’s free for a fling.”_

_“Never quite quit him, did you, Pru?”_

_“No,” Prudence shook her head, then gave Nick a long look. She didn’t need to read his mind to know the truth. “You never quit Sabrina, either.”_

_“Sabrina Spellman is very much a thing of the past,” Nick insisted. He dumped back the bourbon and ordered another. “Talk to anyone else from the coven lately?”_

_For a while, they drank and talked about nothing of substance. But as the bourbon and martinis loosened them, the conversation veered back to the Spellmans._

_“It’s been, oh, five or so years since I last saw Ambrose,” Prudence commented. “We’ve talked, of course. Those dirty phone lines the mortals call have nothing on Ambrose and I.” Nick made a face. “You’ve really had no contact with Sabrina all these years?”_

_“Not a word,” Nick confirmed._

_“Not a word in nearly forty years?” Prudence clarified._

_“I left Greendale for a reason, Prudence,” Nick reminded her._

_“Which I’ve never understood,” she shook her head. “You loved that girl, Nicholas.”_

_“I still do,” he admitted, his lips loose with the bourbon. “Never got over her. She’s haunted every relationship I’ve ever tried to have.”_

_“I suppose that should tell you something, shouldn’t it?”_

_Nick didn’t answer. He just turned up his bourbon._

_“Rumor has it she’s not happy,” Prudence continued. “By rumor, I mean I heard it from Ambrose himself. Seems like marriage wasn’t the happily ever after she intended it to be.”_

_“Relationships are hard,” Nick said. “You and I know that better than most.”_

_“If I were you, I’d take Zelda Spellman up on her offer to teach and get myself back to Greendale,” Prudence encouraged him. Nick looked at her._

_“How’d you know Zelda Spellman asked me to teach?”_

_“Ambrose,” she said again. “He likes to gossip once he’s orgasmed. I allow it. I learn a lot that way.”_

_Nick shook his head._

_“I’m not going back to Greendale,” he stated. “I can’t.” He knew he should stop with the bourbon, but he signaled for another one anyway. “That place wrecks me.”_

_“Is it the place that wrecks you?” Prudence asked. “Or do you release the wrecking ball yourself before you risk getting wrecked?”_

_Nick didn’t answer, but Prudence knew the answer all the same._

_The wrecking ball in Nick’s life wasn’t Greendale or even Sabrina Spellman._

_It was Nicholas Scratch himself._

**_*** END FLASHBACK***_ **

“What I want isn’t what’s important right now,” Nick said anyway. Admitting that Prudence was right out loud would make things infinitely more real. As long as he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself, they were protected, at least to a point. “She needs some time.”

“Hmm,” Prudence hummed into her bourbon.

“There’s a lot going on, Pru,” Nick insisted. “Sabrina is reeling from learning that Harvey turned her family and coven over to the Sons of Angels. And from what I’ve gathered, the last however many decades have not been good to her. She was in a loveless, emotionally abusive marriage. She’s still barely doing magic. She’s got a lot to work through.”

“You’ve always put her needs before your own,” Prudence reminded him. “For better or worse. But what if what you need is the same thing she needs, Nicky? Both of you deserve to be happy. What if your happiness is found with each other?”

A long moment of silence passed between them. Nick was reminded of what the Bali healer had implied – that he needed to return to heal.

“When did you become a romantic?” Nick asked her after a few beats. “I seem to recall you being far more bitter when it came to matters of the heart.”

“Experience,” Prudence shrugged. “Perspective. And the knowledge that people I care about have spent the last fifty years apart when they never should have been apart in the first place.”

Nick sighed and turned up his bourbon, grateful in the moment that he still had one vice to lean on. He opted for humor as his response.

“You care about Sabrina?” he asked.

“You tell her, you won’t get the chance to be her knight in shining armor because I will rip your love-filled heart from your chest and feed it to you,” Prudence informed him. Nick chuckled.

“It’s good to see you, Pru.”

“Likewise, Nicholas.” She leaned into the cushions, her long legs crossed. “I think I chose an excellent time to make my return.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some more innocent rule breaking, but a nice little non-date all the same. These two, dancing right up to each other. And Prudence has returned - Prudence with the sage advice, both in flashbacks and in real life. I did miss her. 
> 
> The reaction to this story has really blown me away. Thank you so much for reading it and sharing your thoughts. Let me know what you thought of this one? 
> 
> And brace yourself. The next update is a big one...


	10. I Chose You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: Things get intense and x-rated below. 
> 
> Also, a few folks asked on Tumblr about how I've worked in Part 4 details since I wrote this pre-Part 4. The Eldritch Terrors were already a part of this and there were bits of part 4 - mostly Sabrina's death - that added some meat to what I'd already created. The two flashbacks below were edited in after seeing Part 4 as I already had Sabrina and Nick sleeping together and facing the terrors. It worked in beautifully when I was editing to add them in.

A shadow outside his office caught Nick’s eye. He peered at the door, waiting. No one emerged. He figured it was someone passing by and resumed his grading. A few moments later, another flutter of movement grabbed his attention. This time, Trevor peeked around the door frame. He ducked when Nick spied him.

“Trevor, I saw you,” he called out. “Come in here.” The boy walked in with an air of guilt, his shoulders slumped, his gaze downcast. Nick eyed him suspiciously. “Why are you lurking outside of my door?”

“I… Um…”

“Is it about schoolwork?” Nick prompted.

“No…”

“A newfound interest in the subject matter, then?” Nick guessed.

“No, it’s just…” He lifted his eyes. He looked scared.

“What’s going on, Trevor?” Nick prompted with an air of impatience. “I can tell something is on your mind. And I find it highly suspicious that you’re hovering around my office – alone.” He suspected the boy had more questions about Hell.

“It’s just…” He took a breath. “Brother Scratch, have you seen Mohan? Lately?”

“No,” Nick shook his head, his suspicion growing. “Why?”

“I just… Can’t find him,” Trevor shrugged. “Ms. Spellman yelled at me when I tried to see if he was in study hall, but I don’t know where else he could be…”

“I highly doubt Ms. Spellman yelled at you,” Nick said.

“She didn’t yell, exactly, but she told me to either pull up a chair and take out my books or get lost.”

“Were you hovering around her door like were this one?” Nick asked. Trevor nodded. “Makes sense, then.”

“So you haven’t seen Mohan?” Trevor repeated.

“No, no Mohan,” Nick shook his head. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

“Sure…” Trevor turned to leave. Just before he reached to the door, he stopped and turned back to Nick. He still looked guilty or perhaps nervous. “It’s just…” Nick sensed he was missing something.

“If there’s something else going on, I suggest you spit it out. None of this beating around the bush you’re doing. I’ve been a young warlock before. I recognize the signs that there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Still, Trevor teetered.

“Trevor, I’m losing my patience,” Nick pushed. “Why are you looking for Mohan?” Nothing. “A witch arrived at the Academy two days ago that can read minds. I can summon her here and have her find out what’s going on…”

“Mohan snuck out,” Trevor blurted out. “He’s been gone for a while and I’m worried.”

The color drained from Nick’s face.

“How long has he been gone?” he demanded as he pushed back from his desk.

“A couple of hours.” Trevor was trembling now. “We do that sometimes, a few of us. We sneak out and go into town to buy supplies… We take turns…”

“Sister Spellman didn’t put the order to stay in the Academy at all times in place for fun,” Nick said. “This is serious, Trevor.” He put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him through the door. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

Nick didn’t bother answering. He all but manhandled Trevor through the hallways at a rapid pace. He stopped outside of study hall. He didn’t bother knocking on the open doorframe.

“Sabrina?”

She looked his way and despite the gravity of their situation, he was struck by the vastness of her brown eyes. She frowned when she saw him with Trevor by his side, his hand firmly wrapped around the boy’s shoulder.

“Brother Scratch?” she asked, taking a formal tone in front of the students.

“I need to see you for a moment.”

Sabrina looked back to the ten or so students gathered around her, all studying quietly.

“I need to step out. Salem,” she nodded at her familiar who was sunbathing in the windowsill, “is in charge. He may look friendly, but trust me, he is not.” She went to Nick. “What’s going on?”

He pulled her into the hallway.

“Mohan snuck out,” he said in a low voice so the students wouldn’t overhear him. Sabrina’s eyes widened. “He hasn’t come back.”

“Oh no…” Her stomach sunk. “Let’s go to Ambrose’s office.”

“What’s going on?” Trevor asked again as he was pulled through the halls again. “I know we broke the rules, but everyone is being so serious…”

“Because this is serious,” Sabrina said. “How long has he been gone?”

“A couple of hours,” Trevor confessed. “He should have been back a long time ago.”

“He should have never left,” Nick snapped.

“Nick,” Sabrina warned, sensing his growing agitation. He looked her. She shook her head. He blew out a breath. “We’re going to find him,” she said to Trevor. “But you’re going to have to tell us everything you know.”

Nick pushed through Ambrose’s closed office door without warning.

“What the Heaven?” Ambrose cried out.

Oh my….” Prudence yelped. She sprung from his lap, adjusting her clothing. “What in the name of…”

“Mohan snuck out,” Nick barreled right along. “He hasn’t come back.”

Ambrose cursed.

“How long ago?” he demanded.

“Two hours,” Sabrina supplied.

“Snuck out to do what?” Ambrose pressed.

“Get supplies,” Nick said with sarcasm.

He recognized the hypocrisy. Just two days earlier he and Sabrina slipped out for a few hours just to get out of the Academy. He and Hilda had gone to the market just that morning. He was fairly certain Ambrose, too, had slipped out in the last twenty-four hours. But they were full witches and warlocks with a lot of power and knowledge about what was going on. Trevor, Mohan, and their friends were barely teenagers, none of them of age, and most certainly unaware of just how much danger they were in.

“Supplies?” Prudence requested. “What sort of supplies would a bunch of kids without hair on their chest need?”

“Just – junk food,” Trevor’s voice shook as he spoke. “Snacks, things like that…”

“So you risk your lives for snacks,” Ambrose crossed his arms. “Do you recognize the stupidity of that?”

“We’ve been bored, stuck in here,” Trevor tried to explain. “We like to go out, do things…”

“Don’t we all?” Ambrose countered.

“What part of ‘witch hunters are in the area’ did you not understand?” Nick asked Trevor. “Do you think this a game? This is serious, Trevor.”

Trevor’s eyes watered.

“No one said anything else about it,” he said. “We thought maybe it wasn’t serious…”

“At no point did Sister Spellman lift her orders…”

“Nick, Ambrose, enough,” Sabrina cut in. “Neither of you are helping by telling him what he did wrong. I think he already knows.” Both Nick and Ambrose fell quiet, aware that Sabrina wasn’t wrong, but both had been caught up in the moment. Sabrina removed the hand Nick still had clenched around Trevor’s shoulder and replaced it with a kind hand of her own. The boy was nearly as tall as her. “Have a seat, Trevor.” She led him to one of the chairs in Ambrose’s office, then sat down beside him. “You say Mohan has been gone two hours?”

“About, yeah,” Trevor nodded, eyes on her, sensing she was the friendly one in the room. “We take turns, me, him, a few of the others. Alexander told us not to, not after what happened to Sage, but we just wanted some snacks and stuff, you know?”

“I understand,” Sabrina nodded. “It’s hard, being cooped up like this.” She had been cooped up in one way or another for the last fifty years. “But it’s for your own safety. There is a threat out there that we haven’t been able to combat as of yet. How do you get out of the Academy?”

“There’s a door in the greenhouse,” Trevor confessed. “It was covered up by plants, but Tanner saw the knob and we figured out it wasn’t protected.”

Ambrose cursed again. Nick huffed in annoyance. Sabrina continued to ignore them.

“When you sneak out, what’s the routine?” she continued. “How do you go about it?”

“There’s a group of us that trades off every few days or so.” Trevor kept his eyes on Sabrina. “The person sneaking out makes a list and takes the money from the others. They go into town, get what they need, and come back. One of us lets them out, keeps watch, and lets them back in. I was the lookout today. We’re usually back within the hour, but when Mohan didn’t turn up, I got worried, so I went looking for him. I didn’t find him, so I came back, in case he had.”

“Where was he going?” Sabrina asked. “’Into town’ isn’t specific enough. Was there an exact storefront?”

“The big box store,” the boy confessed. “We go there because we can get food, games, things like that, all in one place.”

“Okay,” Sabrina nodded. “Trevor, I need you to know that you are, in fact, in a lot of trouble.” Trevor nodded. “But right now, the most important thing is that we find Mohan.”

“There’s a chance he came back,” Prudence stepped into action. “I’ll search the Academy.”

“Tell Zelda what’s going on,” Ambrose requested. “Have some of the other teachers help you.”

“Does Sister Spellman need to know…” Trevor began.

“Yes,” Nick cut him off. “She very much needs to know.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Sabrina, Ambrose, we’re going to have to search the grounds.”

“Stay here, Trevor,” Ambrose directed. “I’m sealing you in until we’re back. Don’t touch anything.”

“But… I want to help…”

“If you wanted to help you would have listened…”

“You’ve done enough,” Sabrina cut Ambrose off before he could chastise the boy any further. “You came to us, and that was the right thing to do.”

“You’ll find him, won’t you?” Trevor asked.

“We’ll do everything we can,” Sabrina assured him. She stood and followed Nick and Ambrose out of the office. Ambrose made good on his words to seal Trevor in. “Is that necessary?” Sabrina questioned as he worked. “He’s scared…”

“We can’t risk him trying to find Mohan on his own,” Ambrose said.

“I can’t believe they’ve been sneaking out,” Nick shook his head.

“As though you, me, and Ambrose haven’t sneaked out of this place in the last few days,” Sabrina called him out. “But we don’t have time for that. We need to find Mohan.”

“Let’s go to the greenhouse,” Nick proposed. “I’ll do a locator spell and we’ll go from there.”

The three of them tromped through the Academy. Prudence, Zelda, Hilda, and other staff hurried around them, searching.

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of the greenhouse,” Ambrose said. “I’ve used this damned door myself…”

“There’s no use focusing on the what ifs,” Sabrina said. “Let’s focus on finding Mohan.”

In the greenhouse, Nick was quick to perform his spell, using the dirty ground as his compass. The spell responded, mapping out Mohan’s coordinates.

“According to this, he’s out front.” Nick’s frown was deep. “That can’t be good.”

“He could be on his way back,” Sabrina said diplomatically. Ambrose shook his head.

“If he were that close, he would be inside this Academy,” he pointed out. “He also wouldn’t be out front. The doors are barred shut. He couldn’t get in and the students can’t get out – Zelda has spelled that door shut six ways from Sunday.” He jerked his thumb at Nick. “This one helped.”

“He’d come in this door,” Nick nodded towards the greenhouse door. “Something is wrong.”

“Shall we check?” Sabrina questioned. “Rather than standing here looking at each other?” She turned and walked away, leaving Nick and Ambrose to follow her. In the entry, Nick reached out and caught her by the elbow.

“We have to be smart,” he reminded her. “We don’t know what we’re going to find when we open this door. We could be walking right into a trap.”

“We could levitate one of us up to the window,” Ambrose proposed, referring to the large windows over the entry door. “They’re stained glass, but if we broke one and then repaired it…”

“How about a peering spell?” Nick countered. “It’ll take a minute to work through all of the enchantments, but we can see what’s outside...”

Sabrina rolled her eyes and let the two continue to debate what to do. She went to the door and used magic to lift the heavy wooden slab that was really for looks as no outside visitor would stand a chance of getting through their protections. She had pulled the door open before Nick or Ambrose realized what she was doing.

“Sabrina!” Nick called out. “Wait!”

He was too late.

Her eyes had fallen upon the body of Mohan, placed just outside where she knew the boundaries of their protections ended.

“No!”

She took off at a run. Nick cursed and went after her, Ambrose on his heels. They were barely down the steps before arrows started flying.

“Sabrina!”

Nick was faster than her. He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back towards the Academy while Ambrose cast a spell to shield the three of them. Nick shoved her through the Academy door and the moment Ambrose was inside, he slammed the door shut.

“What in the Heaven were you thinking?” he rounded on Sabrina. “You knew it was a trap!”

“You two were standing there debating on what to do!” she fired back. “Meanwhile, he’s lying out there hurt…”

“He’s not hurt, he’s dead,” Nick hissed. “They killed him, Sabrina. They baited us and damned if you didn’t take it!”

“You don’t know he’s dead!” she argued. “He could be lying out there in need of help…”

“He’s dead,” Ambrose said in his blunt manner. “I’m sure of it.” He ran a hand down his face. “Son of a bitch!”

“What’s happened?” Zelda appeared.

“Mohan is dead,” Nick reported. “His body is just outside the boundary. Sabrina attempted to go to him, and the Sons attacked. Thanks to Ambrose’s quick thinking, we all made it back in unscathed.” He glared at Sabrina. “It was a close call, however.”

“You’re certain Mohan is dead?” Zelda questioned.

“Positive,” Ambrose confirmed.

“They don’t know that for sure,” Sabrina argued again.

“Sabrina, he’s dead,” Nick said with a note of harshness that was unlike him, particularly when speaking to her. “The Sons are lying in wait for us to come fetch him. You very well could have been dead next to him if we hadn’t got you back inside.”

“Neither of you were doing anything!” she exclaimed. “No one is doing anything!”

She was beyond fed up. All of them were standing around, reading books and debating about how to defeat the suns but not actually doing anything about it. She was tired of the lack of action.

“We need a headcount,” Nick said to Zelda. “We need to make sure no one else is missing.”

Prudence and Hilda had appeared during their exchange. Zelda looked them now.

“Gather everyone,” she ordered. “Students and staff alike. We’ll do a headcount and then we’ll brief them on what has happened.”

“Trevor is still in Ambrose’s office,” Nick supplied. “I think it best we keep him there until the news about Mohan can be delivered to him personally.”

“Agreed,” Zelda nodded.

“I’m going to go seal the greenhouse door,” Ambrose said. “I’ll be back before the headcount.” He set off, as did Hilda and Prudence.

“I’m going to collect the notes I’ve been preparing for a moment such as this,” Zelda said to Sabrina and Nick. “You two stay put – no wandering off until the headcount.” She studied the pair. The tension between them was palpable. “I suspect you have your own things to discuss.”

She, too, left the entry. Nick rounded on Sabrina once more.

“What in the Heaven were you thinking?” he demanded again. “You’re too smart for that, Sabrina!”

“There is a _child_ out there!” she pressed back. “Yes, he did something stupid, but we were wasting time, standing here debating… Never mind how you and Ambrose spent far too long telling Trevor how stupid they were for sneaking out when we could have been looking for Mohan. What in the Heaven were _you_ thinking, Nick? A child is missing and you’re all over the one person who had any sort of information about him!”

Nick exhaled to try and calm himself and sort through the storm of thoughts and emotions raging in his head and chest.

“I knew Mohan was dead,” he admitted. “I think Ambrose did, too. The moment Trevor told me he was missing, I knew. Call it gut instinct or just knowing too much about how the Sons work now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I held Mohan after class yesterday and tried to put the fear of Hecate into him. He was acting out in class again, getting laughs from his classmates, interrupting me. You weren’t wrong when you said I saw myself in him. There were a lot of similarities there. I would have snuck out, too.” He shook his head. “A child is dead, Sabrina. I don’t take that lightly.” He leveled her with a look that held her in place. “I don’t take it lightly when you put yourself at risk either. I never have.”

Sabrina understood more then. Nick’s reaction to both Trevor and her were fueled by his own fears about his students, about her, his guilt at his last interactions with Mohan, leftover feelings from fifty years ago when life and loss had been so tightly intertwined. She softened.

“I’m sorry.” She put a comforting hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t have run out like I did. I didn’t think. I just wanted to help him.”

“I know you did,” Nick nodded. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t. I’m sorry for how I acted just now. I just…” He searched for the right words, the appropriate ones. “Losing Mohan is hard. But I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”

Sabrina didn’t think about what his words meant. She reached for him and wrapped him in a hug. He returned it, selfishly seizing the moment to simply hold her.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Nick ran his hand down Sabrina’s back and breathed her in._

_She was actually there._

_He could feel her. Touch her._

_She was there, asleep on his chest, her soft breath tickling his skin. Her shampoo, a wildflower blend, filled his nostrils. She was there. She was with him._

_She was alive._

_He closed his eyes and thanked Hecate. He opened them again when she stirred._

_“Morning, Spellman,” he muttered. He lifted his head to kiss her forehead._

_“Morning,” she replied in a tired voice. She ran her hand over his pec. “You’re here.”_

“You _are here,” he countered. “I was afraid it was all a dream, but when I woke up this morning, you were still in my arms.” He kissed her hair. “I’m never letting you go, Spellman.”_

_“Promise?” she asked, her tone light but sleepy._

_“I cross my heart.” She moved so she could lift herself up enough to see him. He brushed her hair back. “My Hecate, you’re beautiful.”_

_“I missed you,” she confessed. “I know I wasn’t in the Sweet Hereafter long, but I missed you so much.”_

_“Not more than I missed you,” he swore. “Sabrina, you were gone…”_

_“I came back,” she reminded him. “Hecate brought me back.” She smacked her lips a bit. “My mouth still has a faint taste of dirt though. Hilda said she had it for a few days, too, when Hecate resurrected her.”_

_Nick raised up and kissed her soundly._

_“Good news is you don’t taste like dirt.”_

_“Just morning breath,” Sabrina countered._

_“Best morning breath I’ve ever encountered,” he assured her. That made Sabrina laugh a bit. Salem joined them on the bed and curled up next to Nick’s head. He lifted a hand to scratch the familiar. Salem purred in contentment._

_“Salem seems to like you.”_

_“Salem and I bonded,” Nick confessed. “I slept here that first night, when we thought you were gone for good. I couldn’t bear to go back to the Academy alone. Salem joined me in my grief.” He watched Sabrina’s eyes water. “No tears,” he shook his head. “We’ve all cried enough for at least a century.”_

_“No tears,” Sabrina agreed as she tried to quell them. She lowered her head back to Nick’s chest._

_She had died to save everyone she loved from The Void. Fully and completely. They had even held a funeral for her. But somehow, Hecate had brought her back the day before. She was home now, safe and sound and alive. It felt too good to be true, but she was as grateful as she could possibly be that it was happening._

_“I don’t want to get out of this bed,” she commented._

_“Let’s not. Let’s just stay here forever.”_

_“I think I suggested that once,” she reminded him, thinking of the moments after she thought she had extricated the Dark Lord from him and had him back once more._

_“And I was a fool to ever get out of this bed back then,” Nick replied. “But as nice as the thought of us staying here forever is, I do think your aunts and Ambrose might like to have you at the breakfast table. They missed you, too, Spellman. Especially Zelda.”_

_“We should go down to breakfast,” Sabrina agreed. She wanted to see her family as much as she wanted to remain in bed with Nick. Neither of them made to move._

_“I love you, Spellman.” Nick placed another kiss to her hair. “While we might have to get out of this bed, I promise to never let you go again.”_

_“I love you, Nick,” Sabrina echoed. “And I’m not letting you go again either. In fact, I’m going to hold your hand through breakfast. We’re just going to have to make do with one hand from now on.”_

_“That’s a sacrifice I can get behind,” Nick determined. “Shall we venture downstairs?”_

_“I suppose so.” Sabrina winced at the cool air that washed over them as Nick tossed back the blanket. She had been so tired the night before that she hadn’t bothered with pajamas, choosing instead to strip down to her bra and panties and climb into bed with Nick who had dropped his own clothes all over her floor and now lay in a pair of his box briefs. “That was rude.”_

_“I’ll warm you up in no time,” Nick promised her. “Hot shower, maybe?”_

_“Sabrina!” came Hilda’s voice. “Nicholas! Breakfast!”_

_“I think that shower is going to have to wait,” Sabrina said begrudgingly. “Later though?”_

_“Later,” Nick agreed. They shared one more kiss before they got out of bed and dressed for the day. At the top of the stairs, Nick stopped Sabrina before they descended into the madness that was the Spellman family. “You are my heart, Sabrina. I will go anywhere, do anything, for you.”_

_They kissed until Zelda caught them._

_“There will be plenty of time for the pair of you to maul one another,” she declared. “Breakfast, please. Before Vinegar Tom eats all the bacon.”_

_They chuckled and descended the stairs, hands held tight._

_“Nick?” Nick looked at her and raised an eyebrow. She smiled at him. “You are my heart too. Always have been, always will be.”_

_Nick pulled her back into his arms, right there in the kitchen doorway._

_He promised himself again that he would never let her go._

*****END FLASHBACK*****

“We can’t leave him out there, Nick,” Sabrina said when she pulled away.

He thought for a moment, then nodded to himself. “Think you can cast a shield spell like Ambrose did?”

“I can,” Sabrina said with confidence.

“When I open the door, cast it. I’m going to use a summoning spell to bring Mohan to us. But we have to stay on this side of the door. If we step over the threshold, they will attack again.”

“Okay,” Sabrina agreed. “Ready when you are.”

Nick got into position, counted to three, and pulled the doors open. Sabrina’s spell was fast and sure. Strong. They could see the Sons at the edge of the woods, their bow and arrows, and, Sabrina recognized, guns, at the ready, as Nick drew Mohan’s body to them. Sabrina kept the spell in place until Nick lowered Mohan’s body to the floor and used magic to slam the doors shut once more.

“Let’s move him to one of the side rooms,” he said. “I don’t want the other students to see him.” Again, he levitated the young body and directed him into a side room. He was gentle as he lowered him to the floor once more.

Together, they stood over Mohan, taking in his lifeless features. Nick stooped and bowed his head. Sabrina didn’t question what he was doing, but she, too, kneeled beside him and said her own prayer to Hecate. When she opened her eyes, she saw Nick’s eyes damp with tears. She had always like that about him, that he would let her see him cry, even if he wouldn’t allow anyone else.

Without a word, she reached out her hand and closed Mohan’s eyelids.

“They shot him,” Nick observed, taking in the bullet holes in the young boy. “Those bullets are likely laced with holy water. It wouldn’t be enough to just shoot.”

“Guns and arrows,” Sabrina observed. A chill went through her. “Did you see them? In the woods, waiting for us?”

“I did,” Nick nodded. “It was all I could do to focus on Mohan and not attack. I know I wouldn’t stand a chance on my own.” He pulled his eyes to hers. “None of us would.”

“Neither of us are going after them alone.” She put her soft hand on his arm and began to stand. “Come on. We need to be present for the headcount.”

“I’ll be right there,” Nick said. “Just – give me a minute?” Sabrina nodded. She left the room and joined the rest of the Academy, standing with Ambrose and Prudence.

She half listened as Zelda addressed the students and staff. When Nick joined them, she could tell, even if no one else could, that he had fallen apart and pulled himself back together in a matter of minutes. Leaning into her instincts, she reached for his hand. She gave it a squeeze. He glanced her way and returned the squeeze with one of his own.

She didn’t let go.

* * *

Sabrina idly scrolled through Pinterest, not searching for anything in particular, but in need of a distraction. She couldn’t use social media, given that it would be hard to explain her life, and it wasn’t like she had friends to follow anyway, but she liked Pinterest. She could pin recipes, décor ideas.

Nursery ideas.

First birthday parties.

Newborn photos.

She slammed the laptop shut, recognizing that she was going down the dark path she tried hard to keep herself from. She picked up the book she had been reading in the evenings but couldn’t focus on that either. She tossed it aside and got of bed. She roamed around her quarters – a bedroom, a living area, a bathroom, a study – in search of something to do, something to distract her from her nagging thoughts.

She stopped in the center of her living area and surveyed it. She wanted to remodel, change things up, so she tried to envision what she would do. She hadn’t decorated the space herself. She had moved in with the intention to do just that, but then the Sons of Angels had appeared and derailed everything. She thought of using magic to try a few things out, but she had always liked interior design. It was something she truly wanted to do the mortal way. She was stuck with her current drab look until she could get out of the Academy and go sit on couches and pick paint samples herself. She sighed as the distraction of her someday remodel waned.

Salem padded into the room and meowed at her.

“I’m worried about him,” she admitted, answering the familiar’s question. “He was so upset…”

It was Nick that clouded her thoughts and made her restless. Once the headcount was completed, the news about Mohan delivered, and the new, stricter rules put in place, Nick had taken it upon himself to be the one to deliver the news to Trevor who had still been sequestered in Ambrose’s office. He had disappeared for a long time and when he emerged with the boy, they both looked worse for the wear.

From there, he had set to helping Ambrose and Hilda with Mohan’s body, working to preserve it until they could properly bury him when the Sons were no longer a threat. He and Ambrose had spent some time analyzing the bullets – three, Nick suspected, representing the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost – and finally agreed to call it a night at Hilda’s insistence.

Sabrina herself had done a bit of everything, but she had spent most of her time with the younger kids, including Iris, trying to calm their nerves. They seemed to respond to her, find a comfort in her that Zelda couldn’t offer them. From there, she had helped with Mohan, listened as they talked over the bullets, but her true concern had been for Nick as she observed how hyper focused he was. She still knew him well enough to know his intense dedication to each task before him was his way of tamping down dealing with any emotion he felt until he could be alone to work through it. He had been heavy on her mind since she sequestered herself away in her room like the rest of them had when Hilda finally sent them off to bed.

If nothing else, she reasoned, it was a distraction from her other nagging thought: that she was entirely at fault for Mohan’s death, thanks to a wedding vow.

Salem meowed again.

“I don’t know…” she hesitated. “I want to…” Another meow. Sabrina blew out a breath. “You’re right,” she nodded once, her mind made up. “I should go check on him. I’ll feel better if I know he’s okay, maybe be able to get some sleep…”

She left her quarters before she could talk herself out of it. The Academy was quiet, even by late evening standards, everyone in their dorms or else tucked away in common areas, mourning Mohan and enduring the heaviness of their current situation. She took the stairs with light feet and stopped outside of Nick’s door. She raised her fist and knocked. A few moments passed. She was about to knock again when the door opened.

“Sabrina.”

Nick’s surprise at finding her on the other side of his door was evident. Sabrina took him in. He wore athletic shorts and a simple long sleeve shirt. She didn’t think she had ever seen him dressed so casually, not counting when he was down to nothing but his boxer briefs and in bed with her. She blinked away thoughts of him without even those on.

“Hi,” she breathed. “I wanted to check on you… After everything…”

Nick considered her. She looked cautious, maybe even out of place. He had intended to spend the evening alone, mourning in private with the single glass of bourbon he had allowed himself that was already long gone, but he couldn’t have sent her away if he wanted to. She was a welcomed surprise. He opened his door wider.

“Come in,” he invited. She blew out a quiet breath as she stepped inside, and he closed the door behind her. “Let me just…” he trailed off and went to his couch where his laptop was perched on the coffee table. “Hey, I have to go,” he said to the screen. Sabrina frowned.

“Thought that might be the case,” came a male voice with a heavy accent. “If you need anything…”

“I know,” Nick nodded, eyes still on the screen. “Thanks for listening. I’ll talk to you again soon.” He closed his laptop and turned back to Sabrina. “Sorry. I FaceTimed Henry earlier…”

“You didn’t have to end your call,” she offered. It took all the effort she had not to let Nick see the jealousy that unfairly flared up inside of her. Once, it would have been _her_ that Nick came to for comfort. Or, she corrected, she would have been the one that comforted him even as he tried to push her show of love away. Now, he had Henry.

“It’s fine,” Nick shook his head. “I’ll talk to him again sometime soon.” He watched her standing there in his quarters, entirely unsure of herself and her place. “Want some tea? I’m going to make myself some.”

“You don’t have a kitchen…”

Nick stood once more and spread his arms wide.

“Warlock,” he reminded her. He nodded towards his seating area. “Sit down. I’ll make us a cup.”

Sabrina cautiously lowered herself to the end of the couch.

“I’ve never been in here,” she told him as she looked around. “I imagine it looks a lot different than when Blackwood lived here.”

“Substantially,” Nick confirmed. He had conjured two cups and was filling them with hot water from his fingertips. “It’s a bit big for one person, but Zelda insisted I stay here when I mentioned as much to her.”

“It’s nice,” Sabrina offered. It was a beautiful space, but it was also impersonal. Nothing about it said ‘Nick’ except for his large library books lining the shelves.

“It still needs to seep for a few minutes, but here you go.” Nick brought two cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table. “Peppermint.”

“No metric ton of sugar and cream in yours?” Sabrina questioned.

“Not for peppermint,” Nick smiled. “I’ve grown to like it as is.” He studied her. She looked tired, worn. He imagined he looked similar. “How are you holding up?”

“I came to ask you that,” she countered. “You were really struggling earlier.”

“He was just a kid,” he answered, not bothering to deny it, not to Sabrina. “He drove me absolutely insane, but he was a kid. He didn’t deserve this.” Sabrina pursed her lips, her eyes downcast. “It’s not your fault either, Sabrina.” This felt like déjà vu of conversations they had during the Eldritch Terrors threat. “I know what you’re thinking.” She raised her eyes to him.

“Then you know I don’t believe that.”

“I know,” Nick nodded patiently. “But it doesn’t make it any less true.”

Sabrina leaned forward and picked up her tea. It wasn’t quite seeped enough for her to drink, but holding it gave her something to do.

“So, Henry,” she mentioned. “You two must still be pretty close if you’re FaceTiming.”

“We ended on good terms. We check in with one another from time to time.”

“You needed someone to talk to about today,” Sabrina realized. Again, Nick considered her. Her body language was tense, closed off.

“Are you – upset about that?” he questioned.

“No,” Sabrina said too quickly for it to be true. Nick raised an eyebrow in doubt. She sighed. “I mean, no. I’m not. Really. It’s just…” She searched for the right words, the ones that would be honest but not _too_ honest. “You have lived an entire life since you left Greendale. I guess I’m struggling to wrap my mind around that.”

“Would you have preferred me to be sit around and be miserable?” he asked, opting to be direct.

“You mean like I did,” Sabrina countered. She pursed her lips. Her emotions felt heightened. They always did when she was around Nick, but right now, with Mohan dead and the knowledge of a warlock lover she had no business being jealous over being the person Nick called when he needed someone, it felt impossible to keep the lid on her feelings. “I should go,” she decided before she let everything spill out of her. She placed her untouched tea on the coffee table. “It’s getting late and we’ve both had a long day. I’ve already interrupted your night…”

She didn’t wait for Nick to reply. She stood and started for his door. Nick stood as well.

“You’re jealous,” he stated. She stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn to him. “That’s not fair, Sabrina. You’re right. I have lived a life since I left here. Henry was a part of that life. He’s still a part of my life. You don’t get to be jealous of that.”

He, too, had reached a precipice with Sabrina. What she didn’t know is that he had called Henry to talk about _her_. His worries for _her_. His concerns that _she_ wasn’t coping well, that _she_ would go off and do something dangerous because _she_ felt guilty about Mohan’s death. His feelings for _her_ that he didn’t know how to act on, if he even should. It did something to him to see her jealous. It was perhaps vindictive, but there was a part of him that couldn’t help but think “now you know how it feels.” He had certainly spent enough of their teenage time together being jealous of Harvey and Caliban.

“I’m not…” She turned back to him and tried to defend herself. Except she couldn’t. She was jealous and that was that. “Fine,” she admitted. “I’m jealous. And I fully recognize how hypocritical that makes me, but I can’t help it.”

“You said you wanted me to have people,” he pushed. “In the kitchen a few days ago, when you asked about my relationships. Henry has been my people and he’s still a part of my life, even though we’re not together anymore.” He leveled her with a look Sabrina couldn’t look away from. “You said you wanted that for me. Was that a lie?”

“No,” Sabrina said with absolute truth. “I just…” There was no use in trying to get herself out of the hole she had dug. “I know what I meant to you once, Nick. Selfishly? It hurts to know there is someone who may have meant more.” Her eyes watered at the mere thought. “I know how selfish that makes me. I know we both made choices back then. But after these last several years…” She shuttered as she tried to suppress the sob that wanted to erupt from her. “It’s really hard to realize that I made the wrong choices, that the person I married wasn’t who I spent nearly my entire life believing him to be.” A tear fell from each eye, but she looked right at him. “That in the end, I wasn’t anyone’s choice. You chose to leave Greendale. Harvey chose to turn me and everyone I care about over to witch hunters. No one chose _me.”_

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Nick led Sabrina away from the window. He could feel how heavy her heart was, how upset she was that Sabrina Morningstar was somewhere out there in some unknown cosmos. He made it his highest priority to be there for her, love her, support her the way she had been there for him. She was always tasked with carrying the weight of the coven on her small shoulders. He couldn’t shoulder this burden for her, but he could let her know she wasn’t alone._

_He pulled her blankets back and waited until she was under them before he joined her. She was quick to come to him and rest her head on his chest._

_“You’re staying here tonight?” she clarified._

_“I’m freshly showered, down to my underwear, and in bed with you,” he said in an effort to lift her mood. She only snuggled closer. He kissed her forehead. “I’m not leaving you alone tonight, Spellman. Not after everything you’ve been through today.”_

_“As if I’d let you leave,” she quipped. He chuckled a bit and ran his fingers down her arm._

_“I’m here,” he told her. “Anything you want to talk about, anything you don’t want to talk about, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”_

_“I’m glad you’re here, Nick,” she said softly._

_“There was a one-percent chance of me getting back here,” he reminded her. “I’m going to make the very most of it.”_

_“For the record? You had more than a one-percent chance.”_

_“Oh yeah?” Nick asked._

_“You were up to at least twenty percent.”_

_That made Nick chuckle._

_“We’ve talked enough about odds tonight, but I’m pretty happy with how things shook out.”_

_They laid awake for a while, neither talking, both of their minds busy. Sabrina wondered where the other Sabrina was, if she was okay, safe. Nick thought about the events that had transpired to bring the girl in his arms back to him. The more he thought about it, the more his anxiety grew. He didn’t want to upset her any further, but he couldn’t not bring it up._

_“Spellman? Can I ask you something?”_

_“Anything,” she answered._

_“Earlier, when I came over and we…”_

_“Made love,” Sabrina supplied. Nick smiled a bit._

_“Made love,” he repeated. He had never called sex that before, but it was certainly what had transpired between them. “Are you okay with all of that now? Now that you know you’re here and safe and still you?”_

_Sabrina understood what he was asking. She lifted her head from his chest so she could see him._

_“You’re asking if I regret earlier.”_

_“You thought you were about to cease to exist,” Nick remind her. “Heaven, Sabrina,_ I _thought you were about to cease to exist. I want to be with you, but only if it’s what you want, not what you thought you wanted when you had six hours left to live.”_

_Sabrina considered Nick. He was worried she had taken him back in the heat of the moment, when she thought she was going to fade away into another iteration of herself that might not have feelings for him. He thought it might be too good to be true to have her in his life again._

_“I want to be with you, Nick.” She kissed his lips. “I meant what I said. I searched my heart and everything always led back to you. You talk about polarity and magnets and cosmos. You and I are magnets too, Nick. There’s a pull between us that can’t and won’t be denied, no matter what happens. I’ve felt that pull since the moment things ended between us. I resisted it for a while, but when Sabrina Morningstar shared her memory with me and I saw you standing there on the Academy steps, laying your heart out, I knew. You’re it for me too, Nick. I choose you.”_

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

Her last words left Nick rendered speechless. She turned to flee. His senses kicked in. He got to the door just as she pulled it open and slammed it shut again. She gasped in surprise, her petite frame trapped between him and the door. He left his hand on the door to keep her there.

“Is that what you think?” he hissed, his lips close to her ear. She stood there, her head bowed, unable to hide the fact that she was crying, boxed in by the door and _him._. “Is it, Sabrina?”

“It’s how I feel,” she corrected. “You can’t tell me I’m wrong for feeling that way.”

“Yes, I can.” Nick turned her to face him. She backed against the door, not because she was afraid of him, but because she needed space from the intensity of the moment. “You have been chosen time and time again. By me. Your aunts. Ambrose. To Heaven with the fact that Harvey did what he did. You have only ever been chosen, Sabrina.”

Her tears fell freely. She knew her aunts and Ambrose had always chosen her. It was romance, love, where she felt like she was never the one picked, always the one left with a broken heart. Nick cupped her cheeks the way he had so often when they were together and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. He just couldn’t bring himself to keep walking the tightrope he was on when it came to her. He knew how he felt about her – how he had always felt about her.

“I have chosen you every single day for fifty years.”

He pressed his lips to hers. It took her a moment, but she found herself responding. It felt like something woke up inside of her after decades of hibernation. Her whole body flushed hot. She cradled his face with her own hands and kissed him back with more passion than she had felt in a long, long time.

“Nick,” she breathed when he pulled away. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” he asked.

“Everything.” She let her hands drift down his chest. “For being unfair earlier…”

“I’m sorry I kissed you like that,” he said, now unsure of himself. “I shouldn’t have…”

“Please don’t apologize,” she cut him off. She lifted a hand back to his cheek. His five o’clock shadow felt rough under her touch. She was tired of fighting what she knew she wanted. “You can do it again. If you want to.”

His lips returned to hers, hungrier this time. Sabrina pulled at him, trying to bring him closer even though he was already flush against her.

It was fifty years of passion. Hurt. Anger. Jealousy. It was sadness over Mohan’s death, fear of the unknown ahead of them. It was feelings neither of them were ready to voice, but could show physically. When Sabrina’s hands slipped under his shirt, Nick pulled away just enough to speak, his lips brushing against hers as they moved.

“You’ve got two choices, Sabrina. Leave now, and I’ll see you in the morning. Or you can stay. But if you stay, I don’t know that I can stop myself.”

Sabrina knew what she wanted before he ever asked.

“Make love to me, Nick,” she said with confidence, her hands fisted in his shirt.

“Are you sure?” he questioned.

“I’m certain,” she nodded, eyes on his. “I think it’s what we both want.”

“It’s what I want,” Nick confirmed. He took her hand. “Come with me.”

Both of them knew, deep down, that there would be consequences if they followed through with what they intended to do. Neither of them cared right then. Both of them had spent far too long thinking, wondering, wishing. Separately, they threw caution to the wind and leaned into what they felt right then.

Nick led her to his bedroom. He turned to her and all he saw was the girl he had loved for nearly his entire life. He didn’t see the obstacles, the hurt, the years of repercussions their actions had caused. He only saw her, looking at him with all the trust in the world.

Without a word, he stepped forward and put his hands on her hips.

“Last time I’m asking,” he said even as his hands slipped under the thin t-shirt she wore. “Are you sure?”

“Entirely.”

She was. The only other time she had been with Nick, she had been terrified, but as sure then as she was now that she wanted him. Like now, the real world and dangers threatening their very existence waited for them. And like now, she didn’t care about any of that. She only wanted the warlock standing before her, solid and sure and looking at her like she was his last breath.

Their lips met again. Nick took a few steps backwards until he found the bed. He sat down on the edge, their lips never parting. He let Sabrina be the one to guide them both to his sheets. His hands moved down her back and over her backside. He squeezed as he pressed his hips into her. She responded, rocking against him as her lips left his and began working along his neck.

She smelled like wildflowers.

He groaned in pleasure and worked to remove her shirt. She sat up, straddling him, so he could pull it over her head. He sat up too and found her lips again as he unfastened her bra. When she was bare, he moved them so he was over her.

Sabrina grasped the pillows around her as she let go of everything else and focused only on how Nick’s lips felt along her throat, how his hand palming her breast made her body hum. He was all she wanted right then.

He had never had the chance to learn what she liked. Their one time together had been slow and messy, a little painful for her, scary for him, amazing by the end, when they laid together, sticky and sweaty and in the moment, entirely in love with each other as they tried and failed not to think about what was to come. He had hoped then to learn her body, to discover her likes and dislikes, to show her what her body was capable of and learn what his had been missing by being with anyone who was not her.

He hadn’t had the chance.

“Nick…,” she breathed. “Feels good…”

He didn’t say anything. He sat up and took his own shirt off. He wanted to feel her skin against his. She reached for him and he came willingly. He slid an arm under her head to cradle her close as his hand drifted over her. She did the same, feeling the hard planes of his body. When his hand slipped into the waistband of her shorts, she groaned into his mouth.

“This okay?” he breathed as he ran a finger over her.

“Mmm, yes,” she sighed. “More,” she whispered before her lips were on him again.

It had been fifty years, but she could still remember how his fingers had felt in her that first time. It was the first time she had ever been penetrated and it had hurt. It didn’t hurt this time, but his fingers felt different. Thicker, more weathered. He moved them with intention, stretching her, making her feel everything. When he found the spot he wanted, he rubbed it in slow, deliberate circles.

“Ah!” she cried out as she clenched around him. “Nick!” He pulled out just before she tipped over the edge. Her eyes flew open in annoyance that he had stopped just before she came. “What…”

He kissed her.

“I’m still here,” he promised. “Trust me.”

He kissed her one more time before moving down her body, kissing her skin as he went. He didn’t think she was aware of what she was doing as she buried her hand in his curls and pushed him lower.

He had to hold her still with an arm over her hips as he relied on his tongue and lips to bring her to the orgasm he had worked her towards with his fingers. He looked up as he worked, watching her as she fell apart. One of her hands was still in his hair, but the other had moved to her own hair and she was in absolute ecstasy as she called out his name. He had never seen something so beautiful.

When she finished, he stood.

“Nick?” she questioned.

“Just taking these off,” he said, dropping his own shorts. He was commando underneath. “I’m coming back to you.”

Vaguely, Sabrina wondered how literally he meant those words. The thought fell out of her head as he settled over her. She felt him, hard and ready, at her entrance. All she wanted in the moment was him inside of her.

“Please,” she nearly begged. She bent her knees to open herself up for him.

Nick trembled with desire and want. He kissed her, another deep kiss full of things he couldn’t say, and stroked himself a few times. She found his free hand and laced their fingers together. Her reassuring squeeze was all he needed to breech her.

“Oh Hecate,” he breathed as she spread around him. He knew he was well-endowed. He had worried about that their first time together, that his girth would hurt her. He had a different reaction now. Now, he wanted her to feel all of him, all at once. He wanted to feel as much of her as he could. He had waited fifty years for this and he wanted it all. “You are everything, Spellman.”

Spellman.

He had called her Spellman.

In all the time he had been back in Greendale, he hadn’t said it. She was always ‘Sabrina’ or on occasion, ‘Sister Spellman’ if students were around. Hearing him call her Spellman now, the name only he had ever called her, she wished there were more of him to feel, even as he pressed so deep there was no more of him left.

His thrusts started off at a slow, measured pace. He had found her other hand and now had both their joined hands overhead, both holding on tight as he pulled nearly entirely out of her before pushing in deep once more.

“More,” she demanded again and so he gave her more.

It was just them. Nothing else mattered. He controlled himself, determined that this would last for as long as it could. She pushed against his shoulders, telling him she wanted to change positions, and he moved, keeping them connected. She took over for a time, Nick below her, hands possessively holding onto her hips. She thought he was utterly beautiful as he groaned her name and re-visited her breasts.

She came in that position, her chest pressed against his as he thrusted up into her and she sunk down to meet him. It was intense, shook her to her very core. Yet she still somehow couldn’t get enough. He changed their position again, putting himself back on top.

“Let go, Nick,” she encouraged even as her eyes rolled back in pleasure. “Let go.”

He let go.

His self-control fell away as he allowed himself what he wanted – to claim her, to make her his again, if only for the night. It was brutish and he knew Sabrina belonged to no one, never had, never would, but the idea of leaving himself as deep in her as he could spurred him on. He wanted her to forget she had ever been with another, wanted her to remember what there had been between them once.

He wanted _her._

He came with a shout and a swear and he didn’t think he could recall another time in which he had fallen apart so completely. Her body clenched underneath him as it accepted all he left. He collapsed on top of her and Sabrina wrapped her arms around him to keep him there.

They stayed like that for several minutes, wrapped in one another. Sabrina raked a hand through his curls and it was so familiar, so comforting to him, it hurt. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to Hecate that they could stay like that forever, even if he knew it was going to be an unanswered prayer.

Eventually, he lifted his head from her chest and kissed her sweetly.

“You okay?” he asked. His voice was raspy.

“I’m okay,” she assured him. “Are you?”

“I am,” he said. He brushed her hair back and wondered at how beautiful she was. He kissed her again before he reluctantly pushed off of her and settled next to her, both on their backs, gazing at the ceiling. The gravity of what they had done began to sink in around them.

“I should…,” she began, turning her head towards him.

“Stay,” Nick cut her off, meeting her eyes with a turn of his own head.

“Okay,” she said softly.

Nick pulled the blankets over them and reached under the sheets to find her hand. He tangled their fingers together. They stayed like that for a while, laying on their backs, eyes on the ceiling. Sabrina found comfort in the way Nick’s thumb brushed back and forth over the back of her hand. Eventually, she pushed herself up on one elbow. She looked at Nick. He waited, expecting her to say – anything. Certainly to question what they had just done.

Instead, she moved closer. When he realized what she was doing, he released her hand, but only to loop his arm around her as she settled on his chest. His hand resumed motion, now smoothing up and down her back. It was so familiar, so safe, that Sabrina wished it didn’t have to end. He pressed a kiss to her hair, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep from letting him see how very affected she was.

Eventually, his hand stilled and his breath evened out. Only when she was certain that he was asleep did she let her tears fall.

The night had been perfect.

But it couldn’t last.

Perfect never did.

 _They_ never did.

When Nick woke up a few hours later, he groaned and rolled over in bed to wrap his arms around Sabrina.

His arms fell on empty sheets.

Sabrina was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. That was a lot. I wanted a big, passionate moment between Nick and Sabrina that would have substantial fallout. The fallout is my favorite part. Stay tuned... And if you're a Henry fan, he's going to come back, don't you worry... 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this one! Thanks for reading!


	11. Good Enough Isn't Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I initially planned for this update to be a LOT longer. But after editing it and editing it again, I decided to break it in half. This is Sabrina's aftermath - and the beginning and (near) end of her marriage.

Sabrina stepped into her bathtub and winced. The water was hotter than she meant it to be, but she couldn’t bring herself to remedy the situation. Instead, she lowered herself into the water and breathed out as her body adjusted to the heat. Once she was comfortable, she let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

“What did I do?” she muttered. “What did I do?”

She didn’t regret sleeping with Nick. It hadn’t been her intention when showing up at his door, but her jealousy over Henry had caught up to her, Nick had said the right words, and she threw caution to the wind and asked him for what she wanted.

_Make love to me._

He had.

It had been _good._

It had _felt_ good.

The physical aspect of her marriage had died off many years ago. Sometimes she would wonder if her own desire had dried up, only to have a moment with herself that, while satisfying enough, reminded her that there could be so much more with the right partner. She had missed the connection of a physical relationship, the intimacy. She had missed what it felt like to be brought over the edge by another.

And Nick had known exactly what he was doing to push her over that edge. His hands, his mouth, all of him had set her aflame. For a little while, she had forgotten about their past, about Harvey, about the danger facing them. She had forgotten that Nick had broken her heart twice and that what they were doing was hurling them over the precipice they had been teetering on for weeks. She forgot that whatever came in the morning light would define how they moved forward. She had just let go and let her body burn.

But then, afterward, when Nick was fast asleep and holding her close, reality had seized her.

She had slept with Nicholas Scratch.

She had laid there for a while and cried silent tears as she tumbled over what that meant. Was it as meaningful to him as it had been to her? What would happen when morning came? Would he want her? Would he tell her it had been a mistake? That he regretted it? Would they get back together? Break up again?

On and on her thoughts went.

When it became too much, she did the only thing she knew to do in the moment. She slipped out of his bed and padded out as quietly as she could so as not to wake him. She had all but ran back to her room, spelled her door shut in every way she could think of and did the same to her bathroom door for good measure. If Nicholas woke up anytime soon, she was certain he would come to her and she just didn’t know what to say to him. She couldn’t face him. Not yet.

Not when everything was so fresh, and she was terrified that their time between the sheets would mark the end of whatever their relationship was. His friendship had been one of the only things keeping her standing over the last few months. She wasn’t prepared to lose it.

She sunk further into the water, playing the scene at his door out over and over in her mind. What had he meant when he said he had chosen her every day for fifty years? Because it didn’t feel that way, not to her. Had he chosen her, her life would look a lot different.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Zelda tapped on Sabrina’s bedroom door and waited._

_“Come in!” her niece called a moment later._

_She let herself in and paused just inside to take in Sabrina. It had been several years since the girl died and was brought back to life by Hecate, but every once in a while, just how close she came to losing her niece struck her. This was one of those times._

_“Auntie?” Sabrina prompted. She sat perched on the edge of her bed, makeup free, her hair damp. Zelda thought she looked too young to get married. She was certainly too young for all she had been through._

_“I wanted to check on you before I turned in,” Zelda said. “See how you’re doing.”_

_“I’m fine, Aunt Zee,” Sabrina answered with what was supposed to be a convincing smile. “Tomorrow is a big day.”_

_“It is,” Zelda agreed. She stepped further into the room. “Your rehearsal dinner met your expectations?”_

_“It was lovely,” Sabrina confirmed. She sensed her aunt had something more she wanted to discuss, but she didn’t prompt her to get to the point. Zelda would get there when she was good and ready. “You and Hilda really outdid yourselves.”_

_Zelda joined Sabrina on her bed. Her eyes fell on Sabrina’s wedding dress. It hung on her closet door, patiently awaiting its big day. It was a beautiful dress, long and flowing. Sabrina would be stunning in it._

_It was a shame she was marrying the wrong person._

_She had to bring it up. She had been debating on whether she should, if she would be overstepping. But she had to voice her concerns. She wouldn’t have peace if she didn’t._

_“Sabrina, I have to ask, are you sure about this?”_

_Sabrina sighed. She had expected this._

_“Aunt Zelda, we’ve been through this…”_

_“Listen to me,” Zelda cut her off with a sense of urgency. “I understand that you have a certain fondness for the mortal…”_

_“Harvey,” Sabrina interjected. “Please, Aunt Zee, at least call him by his name instead of ‘the mortal’ all the time.”_

_She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment, but at some point, Zelda’s tolerance of Harvey had shifted to barely concealed distain. She had never been all that fond of them as a couple when they were teenagers, but once they had broken up and Harvey became more intertwined in their chaotic world as a friend, Zelda had seemed to accept him more. It was something about Sabrina being in a romantic relationship with Harvey that caused her to cool towards him._

_“Fine,” Zelda corrected. “I understand that you have a certain fondness for Harvey. But is he really the right choice for you, Sabrina? He cares about you, that’s hard to argue with, but as someone who loves you and only wants you to be happy, I have to say it. I don’t think Harvey Kinkle is enough for you.”_

_“Of course he’s good enough for me, Auntie!” Sabrina exclaimed. “He’s most certainly good enough…”_

_“I didn’t say ‘good enough,’ did I?” Zelda cut her off before she could protest further. “Frankly, he’s perfectly ‘good enough.’ I asked if he’s enough. You are exceptional, Sabrina.” She emphasized ‘exceptional.’ “You deserve everything this life has to offer you and I fear you are settling for ‘good enough’ by marrying Mr. Kinkle.”_

_Sabrina didn’t reply right away. Deep down, she had wondered the same thing. Was she settling for Harvey for the sake of having someone? Was she settling for something familiar, comfortable? Something that didn’t feel like a risk? Whenever those thoughts crept in, she would remind herself that she loved Harvey. While he wasn’t a warlock and he seemed to lack ambition, she was willing to overlook those things. It didn’t matter to her that he was mortal – she was half mortal herself – and he was young. He didn’t need to know what he was doing with his life. There was plenty of time for him to figure that out. Harvey had loved her since she was fifteen years old. Marrying him had been her greatest desire at one point. It took a few detours to get there, but her dream was coming true._

_“I’m sure about this, Aunt Zelda,” she said with a stronger voice. “I’m going to marry Harvey tomorrow.”_

_“I worry he won’t make you happy,” Zelda confessed. “Not in the long term. You need someone who challenges you, someone, warlock or otherwise, that is on your level. Forgive me, Sabrina, but I don’t believe that person is Harvey Kinkle.”_

_“You’ve never liked him,” Sabrina stated. “And you’re still upset he didn’t ask your permission to marry me.”_

_“He’s perfectly likeable,” Zelda said. “In the way one likes a golden retriever.” Sabrina scoffed. “As for asking my permission, he didn’t ask because he knows I wouldn’t have given it.” Sabrina’s jawline hardened. Zelda knew she was winding her niece up, but she didn’t care. This was a last ditch effort to keep Sabrina from making what she thought would be a huge mistake. “I have seen you happy before, Sabrina. You are merely content right now. I don’t want contentment for you.”_

_“You want me to marry a warlock,” Sabrina said. She didn’t dare put a name to the person Zelda was alluding to. “You wouldn’t approve of any mortal…”_

_“That’s not true,” Zelda cut her off. “Your mother was a mortal after all, and I adored her. I love you, Sabrina. I have cared for you your entire life. I have lost you, gotten you back. I will do absolutely anything, including support this marriage of yours, for you. But I cannot allow you to walk down that aisle tomorrow without expressing my concerns.”_

_“Your concerns have been heard and they are unfounded,” Sabrina told her in a way that left no room for argument. “I appreciate your desire to make sure I’m happy, Auntie, but I assure you, this is what I want. I want to marry Harvey. I’m going to marry Harvey.”_

_Zelda sighed, sensing defeat, although she wondered if Sabrina was convincing her or herself that she wanted to go through with this marriage._

_“Very well.” She stood and looked down at Sabrina. She still thought this marriage was a terrible idea, but she would be true to her word. She would support her niece as best she could. “I shall take my leave then, allow the bride her beauty sleep.” She leaned down and kissed the top of Sabrina’s head. “Goodnight, dear.”_

_“Goodnight, Auntie.”_

_Alone, Sabrina blew out a breath._

_Once more, she visited the part of her brain that wondered the same things Zelda had questioned, even now, the night before her wedding when she should have been absolutely sure of her decision._

_Would she be happy with Harvey? Would he be enough for her? Would_ he _be happy, married to a witch? They had talked about what it would mean to marry, for him to grow old while she stayed perpetually young, how they would navigate that. But talking about it and experiencing it were two different things. She had concerns, but he had asked, and she had said yes, and their wedding was tomorrow. It was too late now._

_Salem meowed._

_“I’m not having doubts,” she answered. Salem gave her a look that said she was lying. “I’m not!”_

_Salem leapt from the nightstand and went to her vanity. He pawed at her jewelry box and it opened. He turned back to her and meowed again._

_“Salem…”_

_He meowed again, insistent in his request._

_She stood with a sigh and crossed the room to join him. She reached into the box and dug through its cluttered contents, searching by touch for what she wanted, what Salem knew she was thinking about. She hesitated when her fingers found it, but she still lifted it from the box._

_The necklace Nick gave her for her seventeenth birthday was tarnished now. Its chain was knotted and if she opened it, the glass over their photos would be shattered, a result of her throwing it across the bathroom in the hours after Nick left Greendale and she sobbed into her bathwater. She held it tight in her hand now and breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth._

_It was tarnished and broken, but it still worked._

_She could use it, locate Nicholas Scratch or else summon him to her. She could confront him, demand answers or else tell him off the way she daydreamed about when she would swing from sadness to anger back when his leaving was fresh and she wanted to rip into him to make herself feel better. The vindictive part of her wanted to tell him she was marrying Harvey, that his worst fears were confirmed. Part of her wanted to see hurt in his eyes when he learned the news._

_Part of her wanted to see if he would try to talk her out of it._

_A very small part of her_ wanted _him to talk her out of it, even if she would never admit it._

_Salem meowed again, encouraging her to just do it, to summon him and get the answers she needed once and for all, to get closure, if nothing else._

_“I can’t,” she shook her head. She dropped the necklace back into the jewelry box and slammed it shut. “I finally managed to put him in a box and keep the lid on it. I can’t crack that lid.”_

_Salem meowed his disagreement._

_“I can’t,” Sabrina said again. She returned to her bed and this time, she slipped between the sheets. “I’m marrying Harvey tomorrow, Salem. This is the way it was always supposed to be.”_

_She didn’t fall asleep right away though._

_Instead, she laid awake and gazed out the window._

_She didn’t think about Nicholas Scratch often, not anymore at least. Enough years had passed since their ending that he didn’t occupy space at the forefront of her mind anymore. But every once in a while, he would float into her thoughts and she couldn’t help but wonder._

_What if?_

_What if he had stayed?_

_What if she had gone after him?_

_What if he had come back?_

_What if she had refused to let him leave in the first place?_

_What if he showed up tomorrow, just before she walked down the aisle, and asked her to run away with him, just as he had in her dream reality when Batibat had been loose in the mortuary?_

_What would she say?_

_As she finally drifted off, she couldn’t be sure she would say no._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

Things had been easy with Harvey at first. They had found their way back together, Nick long out of the picture, Roz and Harvey amicable parted ways. A young Harvey had been sweet and kind, so good to her in the ways she had needed back then. Her heart was still tender from Nick and while she knew she lacked the passion with Harvey that she had known with Nick, passion hadn’t gotten her very far. And so, she had settled into a comfortable relationship with Harvey and the normalcy of it all had been like welcoming an old friend. She had leaned into the familiarity of it all and before she knew it, he was presenting her with a ring.

The proposal had been simple. Just them. Harvey had dropped to one knee at the bottom of the mortuary steps and she had said yes. In hindsight, that should have been her first omen that things weren’t going to end well. Neither his gift of a necklace nor Nick’s in the very same place had ended well after all. She had said yes without much thought though, because ‘yes’ felt like what she was supposed to say. He had kissed her, she had kissed him back, and then she had gone inside – alone – to break the news to her aunts.

She had known Zelda wouldn’t be happy. Hilda, however, surprised her by looking concerned instead of ecstatic over the idea of planning a wedding. Put off by her aunts’ lack of support, she had called up Ambrose, certain he would be in her corner. He hadn’t wasted a breath in informing her she was making a terrible mistake and proceeded to remind her of their conversation on the very porch steps where Harvey had proposed in which he had warned her of the perils of loving a mortal when she was hours from turning sixteen.

Yet they had all supported her in the end. They always had. They had always allowed her to make her mistakes, no matter how vast they were or how wide sweeping the consequences could be. They had, of course, been right about Harvey in the end, even though it took her decades to see it. By the time Harvey received his cancer diagnosis, they were strangers inhabiting the same space, bound together only by a vow neither one of them made the effort to break.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Sabrina had never been the most intuitive of witches – foresight wasn’t one of her many gifts – but she knew in her very gut that this was bad. Doctors didn’t call and request for their patients to come into their office as soon as possible to deliver good news. She knew Harvey knew it too. They had barely spoken since he received the call. She was still surprised he had asked her to accompany him, but she was his next of kin and she supposed that’s what the next of kin was supposed to do – sit by their kin’s side while they received bad news._

_She looked around the office while they waited. It was neat, clinical despite the occupant’s efforts to make it welcoming. The plants on the desk and in the corner looked out of place in the stark white space. The desk was too big, stained a few shades too dark. Books and family photos lined the shelves behind the desk and the doctor’s degrees were prominently displayed on the wall. Harvey sat ramrod straight, eyes straight ahead. He was in some sort of daze or perhaps denial. She took the time to observe him._

_Time hadn’t been friendly to him. His boyish good looks had faded long ago, replaced by a man weathered by life and years spent in the mines. He looked more like his father than she ever thought possible. Once in a while, she would catch a faint whiff of who he used to be, but that whiff never stuck around, and it was never there long enough for her to forgive the last however many years of their now loveless marriage._

_They had fallen out of love slowly. Neither of them had ever said as much out loud, but they both knew it to be true. Theirs was a marriage of convenience now. Their friends were gone, and Harvey was the last of his line. Sabrina was the last living person he had. He was the last living tie to her mortal life. And so she held on, as did he. Neither was happy, but neither was willing to take the first move to file for divorce and so they had carried on for far too many years, existing together but no more._

_Sabrina caught sight of her reflection in the window. She hated her glamour. Her hair was mostly gray when she wore it, longer than it was when she was herself and pulled today into a neat chignon. She had a few well-placed wrinkles and had added a few pounds to her slim frame. Her normally perky breasts sagged, and her lips look sad without her usual pop of red. The glamour was necessary if she was going to continue to convince the locals she was a mortal, but she utterly hated it. She generally put it on each morning and left it on until after dinner to run errands and in case someone popped by the mortuary, but she thought today she would remove it the moment she walked through the doors of her home. She wanted to feel like herself._

_Her thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of the doctor. He was a few years younger than Harvey although not by much. He looked sharp and important in his white coat and polished loafers. He greeted them warmly, but Sabrina saw the frown the man was trying to hide._

_“Mr. and Mrs. Kinkle,” he began._

_“Spellman,” Sabrina corrected automatically. The doctor raised an eyebrow. She ignored the way Harvey’s eyes darted her way in a sort of warning. “I didn’t change my name when we married. My last name is Spellman.”_

_In the past, she had let it slide when someone called her ‘Mrs. Kinkle.’ It was expected that the woman would take the man’s name. Now, she embraced her name. It was one of the few things she still had that connected her to who she used to be._

_“Mrs. Spellman,” the doctor repeated. “Thank you both for coming down here on such short notice. I wish I had better news.”_

_“What is it?” Harvey asked. “Go ahead, doctor. Level it on me.”_

_“You came to my office complaining of a cough that wasn’t getting better,” the doctor recapped. “You noted shortness of breath, pressure in your chest, loss of appetite, and general fatigue.” Sabrina bit her lip. She knew of the cough. It kept her up at night and it was her insistence that he see a doctor that finally got him to go. She knew, too, of the loss of appetite. He rarely finished a meal these days. The fatigue was hard to miss as well. But she knew nothing of the shortness of breath or chest pressure. “Your symptoms were concerning and so I sent you for a series of x-rays as well as a CT scan.”_

_“I didn’t know that,” Sabrina piped up._

_“I figured there was no need to worry you until we knew more,” Harvey muttered without looking at her._

_“Mr. Kinkle, I’m sorry, but the x-ray revealed a large mass in your right lung. The CT scan detailed further lesions in the lung as well as the chest wall.”_

_“Cancer,” Sabrina breathed._

_“We will need to do a biopsy and further testing in order first confirm and then stage, but yes, I’m afraid it does appear that you have advanced lung cancer, Mr. Kinkle. Given the size of the tumor and the number of lesions, I’d like to begin testing right away.”_

_The next few days were a whirlwind of doctor visits and tests. Sabrina accompanied Harvey, but the pair rarely spoke. She held his hand because it felt like it was the thing she was supposed to do and he relied on her to bring him water and ask questions of the doctors but nothing of meaning passed between them. By the time all was said and done, it was confirmed: Harvey had advanced stage IV non-small cell lung cancer that had metastasized to his lymph nodes, liver, and right kidney._

_They were bone weary when they arrived back to the mortuary. Sabrina was grateful Hilda was at the Academy. It was nearing dinnertime, but neither of them was hungry. Sabrina sat down on the couch, Harvey on his eyesore of a recliner. They didn’t speak for a while. The only sound that filled the room was the tick of an old clock. Sabrina finally broke the silence._

_“What do you want to do?” she asked softly._

_He had been given the option of an aggressive chemotherapy that might prolong his life or palliative care to help him live the remainder of his days comfortably._

_“I don’t want chemo,” he said in a stronger voice than she had expected. He had made up his mind before they ever left the hospital. “I’m going to die either way. I don’t want my final days spent in a cold room being pumped full of poison that’s not going to save me anyway.”_

_Sabrina hesitated before she offered another option._

_“Harvey, my aunts and I, we could…”_

_“No.”_

_He cut her off in a way that told her not to bother asking again. Once upon a time she would have fought back. Now, she accepted it for what it was._

_“Okay then,” she agreed. “Palliative care it is.” Harvey got to his feet. She frowned. “Where are you going?”_

_“It’s Wednesday,” he reminded her. “I have Bible study.”_

_Sabrina sighed. Of course he was going to Bible study tonight. He said no more and neither did she as he went upstairs to collect his study material from his nightstand. He left the house a few minutes later without a goodbye, not that she expected one. She remained where she was for a while longer, thoughts swirling, before deciding she needed some air. The next thing she knew, she was at the Academy._

_“Sabrina!” Zelda gasped when her niece appeared in her office. “What are you doing here?”_

_“Is everything okay, love?” Hilda asked as she observed Sabrina. “You don’t look so good.”_

_“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said. “I just… Needed air…”_

_“Oh, we’re just going over the menu for the next few weeks, nothing that can’t wait,” Hilda said. “Sit down, love. You look faint.”_

_“What’s going on?” Zelda pressed. “Has something happened?”_

_Sabrina decided to just tell her aunts. There was no point in hiding it. She knew Hilda was already curious as to why they were gone – gone together at that - so much over the last few days._

_“Harvey has lung cancer,” she told them. “It’s spread to his lymph nodes, liver, and a kidney. It’s terminal. The doctors offered chemo, but it would only prolong his life. He chose palliative care.”_

_There were a few moments of stunned silence._

_“Sabrina, I’m so sorry,” Hilda offered. Her condolences were genuine. “That poor man…”_

_“I suppose it was the mines,” Zelda mused with far less empathy. “Breathing in that dirty air…”_

_“We could… Help…” Hilda hinted. Sabrina shook her head._

_“I offered. He doesn’t want our interference.”_

_“Just as well,” Zelda muttered._

_“Not helping, Zelda,” Hilda snipped._

_Sabrina said nothing. She wasn’t sure she didn’t agree with Zelda._

_“How are you holding up, dear?” Hilda asked._

_“I’m not sure,” Sabrina answered honestly. “It’s a lot to process.”_

_“Where is Harvey now?” Zelda wondered. “One would think someone just diagnosed with terminal cancer would want to be with their wife.”_

_“He went to Bible study,” Sabrina confessed, ignoring the subtle dig Zelda had made at her marriage. Zelda pursed her lips but for once, kept her thoughts to herself. “I needed some air. I didn’t realize I was walking to the Academy until I was here.”_

_“You needed comfort,” Hilda said. She reached over and squeezed Sabrina’s knee. “What can we do for you?”_

_“Nothing for now,” Sabrina shook her head. “Maybe tell Ambrose, though? So he doesn’t barge into the house with his usual bravado?” She was thrilled her cousin had returned to Greendale, but with him also in the house, tensions had only heightened between her and Harvey._

_“We’ll tell Ambrose,” Zelda confirmed._

_Sabrina stayed with her aunts for another few minutes before she left the Academy. It was well after dark, but she felt at home in the woods, safe. She had spent a lot of time in them lately, going for walks just to get out of the house, to get away from the suppression that seemed to weigh her down inside its walls. When she reached the mortuary, she stopped at the gate and gazed up at it._

_The place used to be her haven, her home._

_Now it felt like a prison._

_As she stepped through the gate, she couldn’t help but acknowledge the feeling growing in the pit of her stomach._

_Relief._

_Harvey was sick._

_He was dying._

_It was heartbreaking._

_But this part of her life would be over soon._

_It made her a terrible wife, but there was no use in denying it._

_She was looking forward to being free once more._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

Sabrina stayed in the tub until the water was cool and her skin was shriveled. She felt chilled to her bones as she dressed in her warmest pajamas and slipped into bed. Her cold, empty bed. She needed to be awake and in study hall in few hours, but she had every intention of staying right where she was until the last moment, hidden away from the rest of the world.

She would have to face Nick at some point, but she was going to prolong it as long as she could.

It wasn’t the right way to address things, avoiding him, but she had to buy herself time.

Time to figure out what to say.

Time to brace herself for whatever he had to say.

Time to prepare for him to walk away once more.

Time to prepare for him to stay.

She wasn’t sure which of those two scenarios scared her more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zelda calling Harvey 'good enough' really sums up the Sabrina/Harvey marriage. She saw what Sabrina was blind to. Decades later, Sabrina understood. As for her and Nick... That's the next update. There's a lot about to be unpacked. And the flashback many of you have been waiting for is there too. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and commenting. This really means the world to me. Thank you. You're lovely. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought about this one!


	12. The ThIngs I Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People say things they don't mean in the heat of the moment...

Nick laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts tumbling over themselves as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that he had slept with Sabrina Spellman – and that she had left his bed in the middle of the night.

His first consideration was if he had pushed her into something. He combed his memories from the time she had knocked on his door until he had fallen asleep with her lying on his chest to make sure he hadn’t pushed her into something she hadn’t wanted. She had asked him to make love to her and he had checked in, both verbally and nonverbally, a few times before they lost themselves and she hadn’t given any indication that she wanted to stop. He would have put the brakes on without hesitation no matter how desperately he wanted her if she had even hinted that she didn’t want things to go any further.

The sex had been good. It had been several months since he had last been with another and the more primal part of him had relished being able to find that release. But it wasn’t good because it was sex. It was good because it was with _Sabrina_ , the girl he thought he would never have a chance to be with again. It had been passionate and intense, and it hadn’t lasted nearly as long as he would have liked for it to, but with his brain hazy in the afterglow, he had thought it was a beginning, that there would be plenty of time for the long love making sessions he craved with her and no one else.

He thought of the moments after when they had laid side by side in a quiet that wasn’t peaceful but was still content. His heart had stuttered when she suggested leaving. He had croaked out a “stay” and breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed. It was more than he had hoped for when she came to him and settled with her head on his chest. He had fought back the burn of tears as the familiarity of feeling her in his arms in such an intimate way overwhelmed him. It was all he had wanted for fifty years.

His intention when he drifted off was to wake up with her and finally have the conversation they needed to have, perhaps over a quiet breakfast in his quarters, just the two of them. He hadn’t banked on waking up in the middle of the night to an empty bed.

He pushed himself upright and ran a hand through his messy curls.

“Dammit Sabrina.”

He checked the time. It was just after four in the morning. He normally woke up at half past six, but there was no point in attempting to go back to bed for a couple of hours. He wouldn’t fall asleep anyway.

“Screw it.”

He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He left his quarters and climbed the stairs to Sabrina’s. He could sense the magic she had used to spell her door shut from down the hall, but that didn’t stop him. He knocked, loud and incessant.

“Sabrina!” he called out. “Open the door!”

Nothing.

He knocked again, harder this time.

A breeze graced his skin. A moment later, Salem appeared in cat form having used his ghoul form to slide under the door.

“Is she okay?” Nick asked right away.

_Yes and no._

Nick sighed.

“That’s not helpful, Salem. Is she okay? Do I need to undo the magic she’s got around this door? Because I can, and I will…”

_Let her have some space._

“I want to talk to her,” Nick insisted. “It’s time.” Salem agreed with him. “Then help me out here, Salem. I don’t want to break down the door. She obviously doesn’t want to see me right now. But I can’t just let her run out of my bedroom…” He trailed off, not sure what Salem knew.

 _She needs time,_ Salem told him. _A lot has happened, Nicholas. Let her process it._

Nick sighed. Salem was right. Sabrina was under a lot of stress and self-inflicted pressure. He wanted to swoop in and make things okay, for her and between them. But she needed to sit with her feelings for a while, sort through what he was sure was a web of thoughts even more tangled than the ones floating around in his own head. He needed to let her have that time.

“Tell her I was out here?” he requested. “Let her know that I’m here, that I’m not going anywhere. When she’s ready to talk, I’ll be here.”

_Of course, Nicholas._

“Thank you, Salem.”

Nick turned to retreat to his quarters with a heavy step and an even heavier heart.

_Nicholas._

Nick looked back at Salem. The cat sat in the middle of the hallway like a sentinel.

_You should have stayed._

Nick sighed.

“I know,” he admitted. “Leaving her will always be the biggest regret of my life.”

_It’s always been you, Nicholas. For fifty years, it’s been you._

Nick didn’t know what to say. It had always been Sabrina for him, too.

“I love her,” he offered. “If she’ll let me, I’ll give her everything she’s ever wanted.”

 _Give her some time_ , Salem repeated. _Then give her everything she deserves._

“I will,” Nick promised.

He had never meant something more.

* * *

Sabrina was avoiding him.

It had been three days since she left his bed, and he hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of her. He had been on high alert, eager to run into her, if for no other reason than to lay eyes on her and assess how she was doing. She had stood him up for dinner the night before, not that he had expected her to show up, but he had still gone to the kitchen in hopes that their standing Wednesday and Saturday night dinners wouldn’t be interrupted. He had sulked back to his quarters with a bag of chips and a beer, but not before he had gone to her room and once more knocked on her door for the first time since Salem sent him away.

Not even Salem had answered this time.

He had tried it the familiar’s way. He had tried to give Sabrina space, let her have time to process what happened between them. But he was growing anxious and admittedly impatient. He was annoyed, too. It was one thing when he thought it would be a day or so, but three days and counting, his frustration with her silence was bubbling.

Still, he didn’t hunt her down the way he wanted to. As much as he wanted to corner her and hash things out, he was playing the long game. He wanted _her_ and if he needed to wait a few more days if it meant the rest of his life with her, he would. He had no intentions of being without her again. All he needed was her permission to love her. He had learned his lesson – life without her wasn’t a life at all. They had been apart fifty years. That was long enough.

He sat down at a table in the dining hall with a tray of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans, a hearty meal he usually enjoyed but tonight had no appetite for. It wasn’t lost on him that this was the same meal he had heated up that first time he and Sabrina crossed paths in the kitchen right after he returned to Greendale. He had only been at the Academy for a few days and he hadn’t seen her since she removed his glamour at Harvey’s funeral. It felt like his plate was mocking him as he speared the meatloaf with his fork.

“What did that meatloaf ever do to you?” Ambrose asked as he and Prudence materialized with their own trays. Nick wondered what was going on there but didn’t bother to ask. He doubted they would give him a straight answer anyway and he had his own relationship to worry about.

“Hey Ambrose,” Nick replied. “Prudence.”

“Such a cheerful soul tonight, aren’t you?” Prudence asked as she sat down across from him.

“Long day,” Nick offered. He looked to Ambrose. “Any breakthroughs on the Sons?”

“You would have been the first to know if I’d had one,” Ambrose countered. “And you?”

“You would have been the first to know if I’d had one,” Nick parroted. He chewed a bite of meatloaf that seemed to just get bigger.

“Ambrose, mind fetching me something to drink?” Prudence asked, eyes on Nick.

“I need to get something for myself anyway,” Ambrose agreed. “Be right back.” Once he was out of earshot, Prudence pounced.

“You slept with Sabrina, didn’t you?” Nick opened his mouth. “Ah ah, Nicky.” Prudence waved a finger. “Don’t deny it, even to defend her honor. You slept with her and now she’s avoiding you. You seem to forget I read minds.”

Nick sighed. He knew better than to leave his guard down around Prudence.

“That’s the jest of it,” he admitted. “I’m trying to give her some space, but I’m losing my mind in the process.”

“I swear, the two of you need to be locked into a room until you kiss and make up or else murder one another. I may well prefer that second option, get the two of you out of my hair.”

“You’d be bored without me,” Nick quipped despite his bad mood.

“Hardly,” she snorted. “But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you, Sabrina, and your collective inability to confess that both of you still love one another. Although I suppose ripping one another’s clothes off was a step in the right direction.”

“Huge step in the right direction,” Nick said. “She took off while I was asleep, and I haven’t set eyes on her since. Things are really moving along nicely.” He decided he’d had enough of Prudence prying and he didn’t think Ambrose knew about what had happened between him and Sabrina. He preferred to keep it that way. “I’m going to my quarters. Grade some papers or something.”

“You’ve barely touched your food…”

“I’m not hungry,” Nick cut her off. “Tell Ambrose I’ll catch up with him later.”

He left Prudence at the table without another word, deposited his tray at the wash area, and exited the dining hall. He didn’t really want to go back to his empty, quiet quarters, so he re-routed, heading for the sanctum. He hadn’t been in there in a while and he hoped it would bring him as much solace as it once had. Maybe he could bury himself in ancient texts and get lost for a while. He entered the space, expecting to be alone.

A sharp intake of air caught his attention.

Sabrina was there, seated at the lone desk in the space, reading, of all things, one of Edward Spellman’s journals.

They stared at each other for several long moments. She looked like a child that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Nick broke the silence.

“So, are we pretending like nothing happened or…?”

Sabrina swallowed down the ball of emotions in her throat. She had come to the sanctum to be alone which in hindsight, wasn’t her best idea given that Nick found solace in books. She just couldn’t take the quiet of her quarters anymore and so she had taken the risk and naturally, the universe had made sure to put Nicholas Scratch in her path.

“I think we both know we shouldn’t have done that,” she managed.

“I think we both wanted it. Unless you didn’t want it and I crossed a line? Because Sabrina, I wouldn’t…”

“You didn’t cross a line,” she assured him. Nick breathed a sigh of relief. “I asked you to make love to me and despite everything between us, I know you wouldn’t have pushed me into something I didn’t want.”

“Never,” he agreed. He kept his eyes on her. “I don’t regret it, Sabrina.”

“It’s not that I regret it,” she began.

“Then why are you avoiding me?” Nick pushed. Sabrina didn’t have a good answer, so she didn’t say anything. Nick sighed. “Sabrina, we need to talk about this.”

“What’s there to talk about?” she wondered, still bullish in her attempt to keep him at a distance. “We slept together. Neither of us regret it, but we both know we shouldn’t have done it.”

“Why?” Nick pressed. It was a role reversal. She used to be the one pushing, begging him to talk to her. Now he was the one, standing there like a stubborn stain, refusing to be dismissed. “Tell me that, Sabrina. Why shouldn’t we have slept together? We both wanted it. It had been brewing between us for a while.”

“Because it messed everything up!” Sabrina erupted. “We were co-existing and everything was fine. And then I listened to stupid Salem who encouraged me to go check on you and the next thing I know, I’m naked underneath you.”

“If you think everything was fine between us, then you are not nearly as smart as I thought you were,” Nick informed her. Sabrina frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Nick decided to just lay it all on the line. He had nothing to lose at this point.

“Did you not hear me say I had chosen you every single day for fifty years?”

“You left,” she reminded him. “You told me it was for the best, that I would be happier without you.” She got to her feet and looked him square in the eye. “You said, and I quote, ‘I’m stepping aside.’ And then you left, and I didn’t see or hear from you again for fifty years!”

_*****FLASHBACK***** _

_“Nick!”_

_Sabrina looked tired but there was a whiff of happiness about her as she descended the stairs to meet her boyfriend. For the first time in nearly a whole year, there was no threat, no realm to save. She was alive and well and got to be a seventeen-year-old who happened to be half mortal, half witch. She got to be with her boyfriend and spend time with her friends and make her own decisions._

_She got to be alive._

_“Hey,” Nick greeted._

_It was then that Sabrina noted something was off with him. He looked tense, worried._

_“Is everything okay?” she asked as she reached for a hug. Nick didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled her into him and held her tight, as tight as he had when she forgave him and let him back into her life, as tight as he had when she died and came back to life, tighter than he had that night when he held her in her bed and whispered promises of safety, of living their own version of happily ever after now that everything was behind them._

_“Can we talk?” he asked when he pulled away a few long moments later. “Outside, maybe?”_

_He needed to be somewhere private for this conversation and if he went upstairs with her, he would never be able to get through what he needed to say._

_“Sure…”_

_Unease settled into Sabrina’s stomach as she led Nick outside. They went to the porch railing and turned to face one another._

_“Nick, what’s going on?” Sabrina questioned. “Did something happen?”_

_Nick took a deep breath. This wasn’t what he wanted. But it was what he knew to be the right thing. It was what Sabrina needed and he would always put her first._

_Even if it tore him apart._

_“You’ve been through a lot this year,” he began._

_“So have you,” Sabrina countered._

_“You said the other day that you were exhausted.”_

_Sabrina remembered. When the last Terror had fallen, she was alive once more, and Hell was stabilized under the leadership of Lilith with the understanding that Sabrina was now and forevermore Sabrina Spellman, never to be called to Hell as its queen again, she had told Nick and her family that she was exhausted. She was tired of being a witch, of saving the world. She just wanted to be normal for a while._

_“We’re all exhausted,” Sabrina reminded him._

_“But you more so than the rest of us,” he said gently. “You’ve talked a lot over these last several days about leaning into your mortal half for a while.”_

_“I’d say my witch half has done enough over the last year,” Sabrina stated. “It’s not like I’m going to stop being a witch. It’s who I am. I just want to feel_ normal _for a change. Going to Baxter High, being with my friends… most of whom are mortal… That feels normal.”_

_“Exactly,” Nick nodded. He could only hope she would understand. “You need time to just – be.”_

_Sabrina saw where this was going. Her heart slammed against her chest._

_“You’re breaking up with me,” she stated in disbelief. “Again.”_

_“I’m stepping aside,” Nick said. “I’m a warlock through and through. You are half mortal…”_

_“That doesn’t matter!” Sabrina cried out. “You even said you wanted to spend time in my other world. Heavens, you enrolled in Baxter High to pretend to be a mortal! Nick…”_

_“Listen to me for a minute, okay?” he half-asked, half-begged. This was harder than even the day he broke up with her when he was finally free of the Dark Lord. “I represent a world that has done everything it can to destroy you, no matter how hard I try to blend in at Baxter High.” Her eyes watered, but he pressed on. “You want a simple life right now. I’d even say you need it. I can’t give you that.”_

_“I don’t understand,” Sabrina shook her head. “What are you saying, Nick?”_

_“I’m stepping aside,” he said again. “I see it, Sabrina. You know you still have time to live as a mortal, to experience mortal life. I don’t think that’s just something you want. I think it’s something you need, especially right now, after everything you’ve been through”_

_Sabrina opened her mouth to argue but found she couldn’t. He was right. After the year she had, she needed her mortal life. Her mortal friends, mortal school, mortal way of doing things. She needed a break from magic._

_“Maybe that’s true,” she admitted. “But Nick, we can still…”_

_“We can’t,” he shook his head. “And we shouldn’t. You shouldn’t be burdened by my being a warlock.” He swallowed hard. “As much as it pains me to say it, I’m stepping aside so you can take care of yourself the way you need to right now. I’m stepping aside so you can lean into your mortal side without worrying about me. You need time to heal and I understand that better than most. This is me, giving you that.”_

_Tears fell freely don’t Sabina’s cheeks. Nick vowed this would be the last time he made her cry._

_“Nick…”_

_“You’re always going to be my first love, Spellman,” he rushed on. His own eyes burned with tears. He brushed away a tear from her beautiful face. “Heaven, you’re always going to be the love of my life. But this is the right thing. For you, but for me, too.”_

_He wasn’t so sure it was the right thing for him, but he was positive it was right for her. She had struggled with who she was, what she wanted before the Eldritch Terrors. Now that they had come and gone, her identity was perhaps clearer to her, but the damage those entities had done to her were still being uncovered. Deep down, he knew he, too, wasn’t okay. He hadn’t had time to heal from everything he had been through, and he and Sabrina had rekindled their relationship in the heat of the moment, afraid she had only hours left. They hadn’t talked about anything that had happened between them. Neither of them were okay._

_“I… Nick…” Sabrina was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe he was doing this again. It was the last thing she wanted. She wanted him to be there, with her. She searched her mind for the right thing to say to change his mind, help him see he wasn’t the burden he seemed to think he always was._

_“I’m leaving Greendale,” he revealed. The words leveled her. She looked at him in pure shock. “I’ve always wanted to see the world, travel more than I have. Now feels like the right time to do that.”_

_“You’re leaving,” Sabrina repeated._

_“It’s time,” Nick nodded. “Warlocks aren’t made to stay in one place too long.” He knew that wasn’t entirely the truth, but it helped his cause right then. “I’m going to go see what the world has to offer. I hope you do the same, whether that’s here or elsewhere.”_

_“When are you leaving?” Sabrina asked, her voice shaking._

_“Now.” If he didn’t teleport off to a foreign land the moment he left Sabrina, he wouldn’t leave. And he had to leave. “You’ve been trying to find out who you are for a long time, Sabrina. I hope you finally have a chance to do that.”_

_“This.. Nick…”_

_She wanted to argue with him. She wanted to insist that he stay, that she could wade through what she had been through and still be with him. But as much as her heart was breaking, she still understood his reasoning, no matter how flawed it was. She wanted to fight with him, but his mind was made up and nothing she said would change that._

_Nick stepped forward, cupped her cheeks with his hands, and pressed a kiss to her forehead._

_“I love you, Spellman,” he promised. “Always have, always will.”_

_Sabrina could only nod. She wanted to tell him the same thing, but she couldn’t speak. She could only step forward and wrap her arms around him. She could only hope that if she held on tight enough, he would change her mind. He held her in a vice grip for a few moments before he gently released her. He looked at her for a long moment as though to memorize her features, gave her a single nod, and descended the porch stairs._

_At the gate, he turned and looked back. She was still there, standing at the top of the stairs, the Halloween decorations from weeks earlier still hung around the porch, the pumpkins rotting around her. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Tears poured freely. It felt like The Uninvited had come back to rip his heart out and give it to Sabrina. He was sure she would always have it._

_He took a deep breath._

_He was gone._

_*****END FLASHBACK***** _

_“_ I was a young, damaged warlock,” he reminded her. “I thought I did the right thing by leaving. After everything you had been through, you needed the time. The chance to lean into your mortal life and just be left the Heaven alone for a while. I wanted you to have space to heal, to find your feet again without the complications of a boyfriend, of a relationship that had been pieced back together in moments of desperation. We never took the time to talk about what happened between us. I begged for forgiveness, you denied it until you didn’t, and we literally jumped into bed. And then all Heaven broke loose with the Void. When the dust settled, you deserved the chance to figure out who you were.” He stared her down and he couldn’t not say what he had held in since he returned. “What I didn’t expect was for you to become a shell of yourself.”

“Do you not remember what I went through that entire year?” Sabrina asked. “Learning my true parentage, being Queen of Hell, saving the world, saving you from Hell, only to have to save you again when you overdosed, splitting myself in half, saving the world yet again, the Eldritch Terrors, losing Sabrina Morningstar, literally dying… I’ll admit it, Nick. You were right in saying I needed some time. But you made that decision for me. You didn’t let me have a say in whether I wanted you by my side when all was said and done!”

“Letting you go that day was the hardest thing I have ever done, Sabrina, and I think we both know I’ve done some hard things,” Nick tried to explain. “It was the very last thing I wanted to do, but it felt like the only right thing at the time. I only thought of you when I let you go.”

“It sure didn’t seem like,” she fired back. “You walked down those steps and teleported away like it was the easiest thing in the world!”

“It wasn’t!” He put his hands on his hips and blew out a breath. Things were spiraling out of control, but there was no stopping the runaway cart of five decades of pent-up emotions and hurt now. “I left my heart with you that day, Sabrina. Leaving you wrecked me!”

“No, it wrecked me,” Sabrina corrected. “I had already been through so much and you twisted the knife into a fresh, gaping wound. It took me weeks to pull myself together.”

“And what did you go on to do?” he countered. Despite his regrets over his decisions, he was also angry at her. Whether that anger was rational or not, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t prevent the words from coming out of his mouth. “You became a meek housewife who forgot who the Heaven she is!”

She glared at him.

“I did what I had to do, Nicholas.”

“Really?” Nick asked. “You had to marry Kinkle? You had to stay married to him? I didn’t leave here so you could waste away in a loveless marriage…”

“It wasn’t loveless!” Sabrina insisted. “Not a first, at least.”

“Do you not see the problem with that?” he countered. “Do you not see how your own choices got you here? You were so upset the other night at the idea that no one chose you when you fail to see that your choices – to marry Harvey, to stay married to him, to fake this whole aging mortal charade of yours for so long – helped get you where you are now. You’ve never thought about your choices, Sabrina. You’ve just made them and let the consequences fall as they may.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sabrina cried out. “I know that, Nick!” It was one of her dominating thoughts, had been for years. She had been a reckless teenager, but time and life had shown her where she had gone wrong.

“Do you?” he pressed. “Because you don’t seem to realize how many people sacrificed for you, Sabrina. Me, your aunts, Ambrose… And how do you repay us? By being a subservient version of yourself I never thought I’d see.”

“What did you sacrifice for me?” Sabrina wondered. “My aunts and Ambrose… Fine, they sacrificed a lot for me over the years. I know that. I will never be able to repay them for that. I will never escape the guilt that they had to go along with my charade for so long and that we’re now in this position because I married Harvey. But what did you sacrifice Nick? You’ve been traveling the world, being a doctor, having a wonderful relationship with some warlock…”

“You!” Nick bellowed loud enough that Sabrina took a couple of steps back. He had never yelled at her, not even that day so many years ago in the woods when he was high. He had said terrible things, but he hadn’t raised his voice, not like this. She didn’t like it. “I sacrificed you, Sabrina. I let the love of my life go, thinking it was the best thing for her. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but I let you go. Every single day for the last fifty years, I have let you go. You have haunted every relationship I’ve ever been in. You’re the reason I’m standing here as a seventy-year-old warlock without a partner or children. Not because I’m a free and loose warlock. That’s not the life I want. That hasn’t been the life I wanted since I fell in love with you. Every single day for nearly my entire life, I have wanted you.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Nick had finally uncapped everything he had held in for so long. He wouldn’t be deterred.

“Seeing you like this, all apathetic and lost? It hurts, Sabrina. It’s a slap in the face. I left Greendale thinking I was paving the way for you to be happy. I left to let someone else – Harvey or otherwise – have everything I wanted with you. I come back here and find out you were unhappy, that your husband had been the equivalent of emotionally abusive, that you wanted to be a mom and he wouldn’t give you that. That’s not what I wanted for you, Sabrina!”

He pushed a hand through his hair in frustration. His insides crawled with emotions fighting to be the one that manifested itself. There was anger. Anger at her, at Harvey, at himself for letting her go. There was desperation to explain himself, to have her by his side once more. There was love. So much love. She had taught him how to love and he was ready for love now in a way he hadn’t been as a teenager.

And there was guilt.

A copious amount of guilt. His leaving had opened the door for Harvey to move back in and Harvey had wrecked her. She wasn’t innocent in getting herself where she was, but he couldn’t help but thing things would have been different if she hadn’t married Harvey.

If she had married him.

“Do you think that’s what I wanted for myself?” she asked. “To spend half of my life pining for the children he wouldn’t give me? For the marriage I wanted and didn’t get? This isn’t what I wanted either, Nick!”

“Then why did you stay?” he demanded. “Why did you let every single person who loves you continuously sacrifice themselves for you? I stayed away. Ambrose, your aunts, they helped you live a lie. You put on a glamour every day to make the people of Greendale think you were one of them. You stopped doing magic because that mortal asked you to. You were upset because no one has chosen you and because I had the gall to find someone who cared about me. You’re so upset about my choices, but what about yours, Sabrina?”

Nick’s chest heaved. He hadn’t meant to get this angry. But he had held on to a lot for a long time, and the last couple of months in Greendale had only given him more fuel for his simmering fire. Enough was enough.

“You want to blame everyone else. You want to blame me for leaving. You want to blame Harvey. And you know what? Harvey is at fault for a whole lot. But not everything. The only person you’re fooling is yourself if you believe that.”

“So it is my fault then,” she said in a quieter voice. “The Sons of Angels, Mohan…”

“That’s not what I said,” Nick shook his head. “Your dead husband is to blame for the witch hunters. He’s to blame for not giving you the life you deserve, for breaking you down like this. I still want to bring him back from the dead just to kill him for everyone he’s done to you. But I’m not willing to dismiss the past and let you off the hook.”

Silence fell over them.

Sabrina reeled. She had been avoiding Nick because she just didn’t know what to say to him. She didn’t know how to confess how deeply affected she was by how he left, how she was terrified that he would leave again, how she wrestled with her emotions as she laid in his arms, feeling safe and warm and cared for and yet utterly afraid of everything she felt for him because every time she had allowed herself to get close to him, he had walked away. And now she was learning he was angry at her for how she had lived, for the choice she had made. The thought she might be mad at himself too for allowing it.

She was mad at him too. He had broken her heart twice in a short time span. He had just stood before her and questioned why she hadn’t walked away from Harvey, from their marriage.

“You don’t get to question why I didn’t walk away from my marriage,” she informed him. “You weren’t there, Nick. You don’t know what it was like, how it slowly unraveled, how I fell into this black hole of a relationship that didn’t make me happy. You don’t get to tell me I could have just left, that I could have just used some magic and evicted myself out of the situation. Technically? Sure, I could have done those things. But not while I was in it. Not while I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. You do not, under any circumstance, get to downplay what I went through with Harvey.”

Nick felt awful as he realized how his words must have sounded.

“I’m not downplaying it,” he said. “You were in a terrible marriage, Sabrina. I can’t pretend to understand what it was like for you. It just kills me to see it from the outside, to know that you were hurting.” His eyes watered. His heart actually hurt. She was hurting. He was hurting. It felt like nothing he could say or do would help either of them in the moment. The only thing he wanted to do was pull her into his arms, but that was off the table. “To know that if I would have stayed, it would have never happened to you, because you would have been with me.”

“Well, you left,” she informed him. “You weren’t here. Don’t you dare stand there and pretend you could have been my savior.”

Nick sighed. He couldn’t say the right thing, no matter how hard he tried. It was hurting more than helping to wonder ‘what if,’ to wallow in his guilt. It certainly wasn’t helping to remind Sabrina of her failure of a marriage, nor was it helping him to be reminded of the fact that he left. As much as he wanted to stand there and have it out about everything that stood between them, it was clear that they weren’t going to get anywhere standing on either side of the sanctum and talking at each other instead of to each other.

“Things are getting out of hand,” he said. “Neither of us can be rational right now. Let’s table this. We can try to talk tomorrow…”

“Of course you want to walk away from this,” Sabrina interrupted. She crossed her arms over her chest in defiance even if she knew Nick was right. They weren’t going to get anywhere arguing in the sanctum, but she was too wound up to stop now. “The moment things get a little too hard, you walk away. Dark Lords? Pagans? Eldritch Terrors? Those you’ll stand your ground and fight head on. But me? Your feelings? As soon as things get the least little difficult, you walk away. You’re judging me for how I lived my life? Take a good look at your own choices, Nicholas.”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Nick agreed. “But I’m not the same warlock I was fifty years ago, no more than you’re the same witch. You’re the one that’s been avoiding me for the last three days. You’re the one that left my bed. I wanted you there, Sabrina. I wanted you to stay. I wanted to talk about this in the morning light and figure out if we could move forward, together.”

“Why should I have stayed?” she asked. “So you could walk away again the moment our relationship got a little too complicated? Been there, done that. Twice now. I’m good.”

Nick closed his eyes and breathed deep. They had both dug in their heels. The longer they stood there, the more damage was going to be done. He needed a way to end their current conversation without wrecking any chance they might have at a real one later on.

“I’m not walking away from this,” he told her when he opened his eyes again. “But what we’re doing right now isn’t helping either of us. We need to take a timeout and come back to this.”

“How long will this timeout last?” Sabrina questioned. “A few hours? A week? Another fifty years?”

Nick took another deep breath in a vain effort to hold onto whatever semblance of calm he had left. Sabrina had always been passionate, but she was hurt too. Those things together were proving to be a volatile combination, especially when he felt the same way.

“I’m not going to stand here and argue with you any longer,” he decided. “I want to talk about this – all of it. Everything that happened between us the other night, and everything that happened between us fifty years ago. I want to lay it all on the table and I want to ask you if I can have just one more chance. But I can’t talk to you right now.”

“I believe you pointed out that I haven’t exactly been looking for you to talk either,” Sabrina retorted. “I thought I could come here and have some peace and quiet. Of course you came along and wrecked it. You’ve got a pretty good track record of wrecking things for me.”

“That’s not fair, Sabrina,” Nick shook his head. “I made mistakes. Huge ones. But I’m not the only guilty party…”

“It’s never your fault is it?” she cut him off again. “You’re always the one doing the noble thing in the end – sacrificing yourself, walking away so I can be free…”

“I’m not doing this,” he shook his head. “Not when you’re this upset. We’re not done with this conversation, but I’m not going to stand here and continue to make it worse. I’m going to go try to calm down. I suggest you do the same.”

He turned to walk away then. Sabrina’s jaw dropped.

“Seriously?” she demanded. “You tell me to calm down and then you are actually walking away right now?”

“Are you honestly capable of having a conversation with me?” he asked.

“I’m trying to…”

“No, you’re not,” he cut her off this time. “You’re saying the same few things over and over again in an effort to continue to keep me at arm’s length. You don’t want to talk. You want to fight and I’m not going to fight with you. You’ve dug your heels in and that stubborn part of you that won’t hear reason has made herself known. I’m not doing this with you right now.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair once more. “I swear, Sabrina, sometimes I regret ever getting involved with you.”

Everything around them came to a grinding halt.

They stared at one another.

Nick realized the magnitude of what he had said in the heat of the moment.

“Sabrina…” He stepped towards her, all thoughts to take a break from their current conversation fleeing as he attempted to right his wrong. She looked as though she had been slapped.

“Don’t.” There was venom in her voice. “Don’t you dare try to take that back.”

“I didn’t mean… “

“You meant it,” she cut him off. Her voice shook. Nick felt a faint vibration in the sanctum. Her anger at him was reverberating in her and if it went too far, they would all suffer the consequences. “You may have said you didn’t regret the other night, but that doesn’t matter, does it? Because you regret ever saying hello to me all those years ago.” She took a shaking breath in an effort to calm the shaking. “But you’re free of me, Nick. You have been for fifty years. I’m not your problem anymore.”

He let her leave.

He collapsed on the desk, his head in his hands, berating himself for what he had done. Sabrina was already fragile, and he had said things he couldn’t take back. He had hit her in a place that was open and bleeding and now, because of him, absolutely hemorrhaging. He had let his own emotions get the better of him.

He sat there for a long time, thinking through his options, debating on if he should chase after her or give her space to calm down.

In the end, he decided to go back to his quarters. No matter how much he wanted to chase after her, it would do no good right now, not when everything was raw and heightened. In the morning, first thing, he would go to Sabrina’s quarters and he would talk to her, try to explain. He would tear the door off the hinges and bind her to the spot if he had to.

The only regret he had was leaving her.

He would make her see that.

He would make her see that he had only ever loved her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. That was a dumpster fire. There really was no other choice when these two have spent 50 years repressing a lot of hurt and anger at the other. They both took it a little too far. Nick really was trying to be the rational one, but as he aptly observed, Sabrina hurt and angry at the same time isn't a good mix. She wasn't wrong in calling him out about not being great at emotions either. 
> 
> I suppose the good news is things can't get much worse between them?
> 
> But can we talk about Salem being Team Nick? That cat knows what's up. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts on this one!


	13. An Emerald and a DIme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! You guys blew me away with the comments last chapter! I was nervous about that chapter because they both really just went all in, so thank you for receiving it so well. <3 A little more action ahead.

It was nearing the witching hour as Nick made his way through the Academy, set for the kitchen. He wasn’t hungry but he felt nauseous from nerves and anxiety and thought some crackers and ginger tea might help. He noted the light coming from under Zelda’s office as he approached but didn’t think much of it. She kept late hours. It wasn’t unusual for her to be working late. He didn’t even glance in as he passed.

“Nicholas,” she called.

He stopped and retraced his steps to her door. He frowned, surprised to find Ambrose, Hilda, and Prudence there as well.

“What’s going on?” he asked. All of them looked to be in varying states of worry.

“I was just about to call you.” Ambrose held up his phone. “Have you seen Sabrina?”

“Not since earlier…” He hoped to Heaven they had no idea what had transpired between them.

“How much earlier?” Zelda asked urgently.

“During dinner.” Nick’s heart rate picked up. He sensed something was wrong. “She was in the sanctum.”

“And?” Zelda pressed.

“And… she left,” he offered. “I stayed.” He looked around again. “What’s going on?”

“She’s gone missing,” Ambrose revealed. Nick’s stomach sunk like a cinderblock.

“I went to her quarters before I planned to turn in,” Hilda reported. “I hadn’t seen her all day and she’s just not been herself. I went to Ambrose’s quarters looking for her when she wasn’t there.”

Nick ran a heavy hand over his face. In his very gut, he knew this was bad.

“It seems she’s managed to sneak out,” Ambrose said. “Somehow. A locator spell isn’t working.”

“I can find her.” Nick dug into his pocket. He had to find her, but he thought they all knew where she was. “Someone get me a piece of parchment.” He produced a dime.

“That’s how you’re going to find my niece?” Zelda asked as Hilda rolled out a piece of parchment on Zelda’s desk. “With a mortal coin?”

“I charmed her mother’s ring,” Nick admitted. “Similar to how I charmed those necklaces all those years ago. In case she tried something like this.”

“A finder’s charm,” Prudence realized. “You have that dime. She has the ring. The two items are connected. She may be cloaked, but the ring should still give her away.”

“It’s the only thing I had on me at the time that would work,” he confirmed. He had carefully marked the dime so he knew not to spend it. “I had a feeling she might try something like this. If she’s got that ring on her, this should find her.”

“She never takes it off,” Hilda said. “Never.”

“Let’s pray she didn’t,” Nick said as he placed the dime in the center of the parchment. The Spellmans and Prudence watched as he performed the spell. Black ink began to appear, mapping the dime to Sabrina’s emerald. Nick didn’t need it to finish before his worst fears were concerned. “Dammit, Sabrina!” He hit the desk with his fist. “She’s at the Kinkle house.”

Hilda looked faint. Zelda cursed. Ambrose looked grave. Prudence studied Nick.

“Stop,” he hissed at her. He shut her out of his thoughts, but she had seen enough. She shook her head in dismay. “I’m going to go get her,” he told the room. “Zelda, I’ll need you to provide a circle I can teleport out of.”

“Of course,” Zelda said, already standing. “Everyone to the entry. Now.”

The group poured out of Zelda’s office.

“I’ll go with you,” Ambrose said as they walked with purpose. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

“It’s better for me to go alone,” Nick resisted. “I have the dime. She has the ring. I’ll teleport right to her. I should be able to grab her and come right back.”

“You don’t know what you’re dropping into, what kind of protections they have around them…”

“I know that Sabrina is in danger,” Nick cut him off. “That’s all I need to know, Ambrose.” He waited impatiently as Zelda created a small circle for him to exit the Academy through. “If I’m not back in five minutes…” He shook his head. “Make a plan and attack.”

“Nicky…,” Prudence tried.

“Don’t,” Nick shook his head again. Ambrose frowned.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “I’m missing something.”

“Sabrina and I had a fight,” he admitted. “I said some things.” Guilt was eating him from the inside out. She was upset and when Sabrina was upset, she acted irrationally. He should have gone after her instead of giving her space. He should have at least checked up on her. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault. “I have to get to her.”

“It’s ready,” Zelda announced. Nick took a big breath and stepped forward, the dime held tight in his hand.

“I’ll be back. With Sabrina.” He hoped it was true. The spell to get him directly to Sabrina was a little more intricate than simple teleportation, but he was sucked away from the Academy moments later.

The burning started almost as soon as he materialized in the falling down house. He had just enough time to register the Kinkle’s rundown living room before he recognized how very not alone he was. The Sons of Angeles were gathered in a circle, all looking at him with shock at his sudden arrival.

“Nick?”

Sabrina was right there next to him, seemingly unharmed. Her eyes widened as she recognized what was happening to him.

“Nick!”

The burning was excruciating. Nick pushed it away as much as he could, his mission singular.

“Sabrina!” He grabbed for her as she reached for him.

“Stop them!” one of the Sons bellowed.

Holy water began to rain down on them. Sabrina was unfazed, but Nick cried out in pain. A Son lunged for them. Nick had enough presence of mind left to loop an arm around Sabrina and pull her to him as water rained down on his back, sizzling as it landed on his skin. He didn’t notice her grab for the nearest Son as he said the words that would teleport them away.

They arrived back in their circle at the Academy in a heap of bodies.

“Ahh!” Nick cried out as the holy water continued to burn his skin. Sabrina rolled away from him and pushed herself up on her forearms. Nick was aware of Ambrose bellowing out a freezing charm, but it took him a moment to realize neither he nor Sabrina were frozen in place. He was in too much pain to focus on anything else. “Unholy shit!” he breathed as he tried to pull at his shirt. His efforts were in vain. The holy water had already hit its mark. His shirt had been burned through and was stuck to his skin in places.

“Nick!” Sabrina was there, trying to help him. “Hilda, he needs the infirmary, now…” But the burning started to subside enough for him to realize where Ambrose’s spell had been directed.

They had brought a Son back with them.

“What the Heaven?” He pushed himself upright with some difficulty, causing Sabrina’s concerned hands to fall away. The Son stood there with invisible binds and a gag holding him place. He looked to Sabrina. “Did you…”

“I thought we could question him,” she said, eyes watering as she continued to try to help Nick. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to tug at his shirt to try to remove it to see the damage or if she wanted to drag him off to the infirmary for treatment. “Nick, we need to stop the burning…”

“Don’t worry about me.” He staggered to his feet, eyeing the Son. There was something vaguely familiar about him. “It was stupid, bringing him here.”

“We can find out how to stop them…”

“At the risk of fanning the flames even more,” Ambrose said crossly. “First you go rogue, then you bring one back… It’s like you’re sixteen all over again.”

Sabrina threw up her hands. “I was trying to help!”

“Let’s get him to the dungeons,” Nick directed, ignoring Sabrina just as much as he was ignoring his sizzling skin. His senses were in overdrive and he needed something to focus on. The Son was the most pressing concern, or at least the one that would require the least amount of brain space. Sabrina was a can of gunpowder that had already exploded once that day while his burns would hurt like Heaven once Hilda got her hands on him to begin healing them. “We’ve got him, may as well question him before we end him.”

“Do what you must,” Zelda agreed. “Sabrina? My office. Now.”

“But…”

“Nicholas, we really do need to look at these burns,” Hilda said, coming closer to note the way Nick’s arms had blistered. “Ambrose can handle…”

“I’ll be fine,” Nick brushed her off. “The burns can wait.”

He didn’t wait for her to reply. He shoved the Son forward and he and Ambrose frog marched him towards the dungeons.

“I’m going to go mix up some balm,” Hilda said. She fretted her bottom lip between her teeth. “The longer he waits, the harder the scarring will be to remove…” She looked Sabrina over. “Are you okay, love? Any injuries?”

“I’m okay,” Sabrina said miserably.

“Physically, at least,” Prudence muttered, glaring at her. Sabrina rolled her eyes. Zelda looked up and noted the handful of students who had gathered around the railing above them, peering curiously into the entry.

“I’ll take care of them,” she said. “Sabrina, my office. Prudence, go with her to see that she makes it there.” She swept away. Hilda followed to prepare what she needed to treat Nick’s burns.

“Let’s go, Sabrina,” Prudence urged her forward. Sabrina jerked her arm away.

“I can walk by myself, thank you. I don’t need a babysitter, either.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that last part, you stubborn witch.”

Prudence didn’t speak again until they were in Zelda’s office. She slammed the doors shut behind her with magic and turned on Sabrina.

“What in the Heaven is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Are you trying to drive Nicholas into an early grave?”

“He didn’t have to come…” She hadn’t exactly had things under control, but that wasn’t the point right then.

“Of course he had to come!” Prudence exclaimed. “Neither of you seem to remember that I read minds. You slept together. You were avoiding him. He finally cornered you and the pair of you had a huge fight. He was already burdened by guilt and you’ve made that guilt even heavier, taking off like that. You are still the most selfish, self-serving person I know, Sabrina Spellman.”

“Selfish?” she repeated indignantly. “I…”

“Don’t you dare bring up your antics fifty years ago. You were selfish then, too, until you realized everyone you loved was dead. Then you went and split yourself in half so you could have both the mortal realm and the infernal one, a selfish act if there ever was one. You’ve spent the last fifty years selfishly living your mortal life and now here poor Nicholas is, suffering the consequences yet again.”

“He said…”

“He said he regretted ever getting involved with you,” Prudence finished. She had saw it all as she searched Nick’s thoughts first at dinner and then in Zelda’s office until he realized she was doing it. “Can you blame him, Sabrina? He has spent most of his life pining after a girl he couldn’t have. I can assure you he has tried to get over you, and yet here he is, rescuing you from yet another poor decision at the risk of his own safety.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about…” Sabrina tried.

“You forget, Sabrina, that unlike you, I have talked to Nicholas over these last fifty years. Many times over. You living the life you have? That’s a slap in the face to the one person who has loved you beyond reason, loved you for exactly who you are, for five decades. Of course he’s mad at you. But he’s also mad at himself, because had he known how bad things were, I doubt it would have taken him this long to show up here and reclaim what’s his.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to argue. Again, Prudence cut her off.

“It’s not just Nicky though, is it?” she asked. “Poor Hilda spent the last twenty years as your housemaid, didn’t she? Helping you care for that Heaven-forsaken mortal. When things got too much, Ambrose came running. Left me in Thailand to be here, with you, pretending to be an eighty-year-old man. Even Zelda – _Zelda Spellman_ – put on a glamour to help your ruse.

“Everyone feels oh so sorry for you, that you were in a loveless marriage, that your husband stamped your magic out of you, that you didn’t have children, and now he’s sold you out. But I don’t. I feel pity for you, because no one deserves the abuse of another, emotional or otherwise. But you made your choices way back when. Now you’re still taking off, doing reckless things without any consideration for what might happen to someone else.”

“I was trying to help!” Sabrina burst out. “This is my fault in the first place! I’m the one that married Harvey. I’m the one that told him our secret. This is on me!”

“Oh stop being so dramatic.” Prudence folded her arms over her chest. “You act like _you_ told the Sons of Angels about us. You might have married the petty mortal, but you weren’t responsible for his loose lips.”

Their argument came to an abrupt end by the arrival of Zelda.

“What on earth were you thinking?” she demanded of Sabrina. “Going into the belly of the beast with absolutely no regard for your safety… Did you honestly think you were going to end them on your own?”

Sitting in her aunt’s office, Sabrina realized the true stupidity of what she had done. Reeling from her argument with Nick, she had been desperate for something to do, anything. His words had hurt, and she had felt as reckless as she had acted, determined to be the one to stop the Sons, to feel like she had done something instead of just sitting around and waiting. She had gone in alone and before Nick had shown up, the Sons were circling her, prepared to rip her limb from limb. Even with her magic, she would have never stood a chance. Had Nick been even a moment later, she would have died.

Had he taken a moment longer to get them out of there, they both would have died.

“I wasn’t,” she admitted quietly. “Not really. I feel responsible, Aunt Zelda. I was the one who married Harvey…”

Zelda sighed and sat down heavily.

“Tell me everything.”

Sabrina told her most of the truth, leaving out the parts about her and Nick. She revealed that she had undone the enchantments around the greenhouse door and then teleported to the Kinkle home. She had pretended her car broke down just down the way, a ruse that had lasted long enough to get her inside the house before they realized who she was. They had known about her, known their religious protections didn’t stop her. They had encircled her and were ready to murder her before Nick arrived.

“You’ll be the death of me yet,” Zelda muttered, her head resting in her palm. “Honestly, Sabrina…”

Footsteps sounded and Nick and Ambrose appeared a few moments later. Sabrina’s eyes immediately went to Nick. She scanned him, searching for injuries. His arms were peppered with swelling blisters. A few dotted his neck, his face. He was filthy dirty and the bags under his eyes were prominent from lack of sleep. He actively avoided her gaze.

“Well?” Zelda questioned.

“He confirmed what we already knew,” Ambrose said. “Kinkle told Father Gabriel about Sabrina, about us. Gabriel came to the Sons.” He glanced at Sabrina. “We did learn that Harvey’s request was that they wait until he was dead to attack. Seems he didn’t want to witness the blood on his hands.”

“How kind of him,” Sabrina muttered.

“They are protected by a number of religious sacraments and relics,” Nick continued. “We can’t breech their boundaries any more than they can breach ours. So both sides are sitting around, waiting for the other to make a move. Now we at least have a list of those sacraments and relics.”

“Dare I ask how you found all of this out?” Prudence wondered. “So quickly at that?”

“It’s best you not know,” Nick told her. He had known a lot of magic as a young warlock running around the Academy. Now, he knew things that he didn’t exactly like to use, but he could certainly make a witch hunter talk, and quickly at that.

“Where is he now?” Sabrina asked.

“Dead,” Ambrose stated. “I allowed Nicholas the honors.”

“His father killed my parents,” Nick told them. “It was only fair I return the favor.”

Sabrina sat on her hands. She wanted to go to Nick, comfort him. But she didn’t think that was what he wanted, not from her, not after the things they had said to one another earlier.

“A score settled,” Zelda nodded.

“Not quite,” Nick shook his head. “They still want to end this coven.”

“You said we have a list of the sacraments and relics?” Prudence wondered.

“We do,” Ambrose confirmed. “Now we’ll need to research how to get through them.”

“I know someone that can help with that,” Nick supplied. Everyone looked at him. “Henry, my ex-boyfriend.” Sabrina looked away at the mention of Henry. “He’s an expert on religions, lectures on it at a college in Germany, at least for now. He’ll make this a Heaven of a lot faster.”

“Will he help?” Zelda asked.

“He will,” Nick said with certainty. “I suspect he could be here within the day.”

“Very well,” Zelda agreed. “I’ll have lodging prepared for him.”

“No need,” Nick shook his head. “I have plenty of room.” He didn’t dare look at Sabrina.

“That’s that then,” Zelda said. “I suppose there’s nothing more we can do tonight, is there? Let’s all get some rest.” She looked at Sabrina. “But first I’m going to reinforce all the exits in this place so I’ll know if anyone, student or otherwise, tries to escape.”

Sabrina looked properly ashamed.

“I’m going to take care of the body,” Ambrose said.

“I’ll help.” Prudence pushed herself off the wall from where she had been leaning. “They took one of ours, I suppose it’s only fair we let them know we took one of theirs.”

“And that’s why I like you,” Ambrose said as they exited. “Vindictive as ever.”

Zelda looked between Sabrina and Nick who were dutifully avoiding direct eye contact. She knew something had happened between them, but she didn’t much care what, so long as they figured it out soon.

“Nicholas, have Hilda treat your burns before you do anything else,” she directed.

“I will,” Nick nodded. They had settled into a stinging ache that was growing more and more difficult to ignore. “I’ll let you know when Henry is on his way. I’ll likely need that teleportation circle opened again.”

“Of course,” Zelda agreed. Nick left, leaving Sabrina and Zelda alone. Sabrina cursed herself for not leaving with Ambrose. Now Zelda had her to herself. “You made a foolish decision tonight.”

“Please, Aunt Zee, don’t lecture me,” Sabrina sighed. “Not anymore. I’m sixty-seven years old…” She expected to be reprimanded. Instead, Zelda leveled her with a steady gaze.

“Do you know how Nicholas found you?”

“No,” Sabrina admitted. “I used a cloaking spell…”

“He charmed that emerald ring of yours. He connected it to a dime he had in his pocket and was able to locate the ring and therefore you earlier tonight.” Sabrina fingers automatically started playing with her ring. “I’d imagine he did it the night you lost it down the drain. He could have simply summoned it to him. _You_ could have summoned it. Yet he went through all of that trouble…” she trailed off, her implication clear. “Go to bed, Sabrina. It’s been a long day.”

Sabrina understood she was being dismissed. She left the office and walked a little quicker than necessary. She saw Nick ahead of her, slowly making his way up the stairs. Without eyes on him, he allowed some of his weariness show. She was sure he was in pain, just by the way he walked. She managed to catch up with him at the top of the stairs.

“Nick…”

He stopped and sighed heavily before he turned to her. He looked to be at the end of his rope.

“What, Sabrina?”

She faltered now that she was alone with him and had his full attention. He shook his head at her silence and made to resume his path to his quarters.

“Thank you,” she said quickly. “For saving me.”

“You should have never gone,” he replied with an edge in his tone.

“I wasn’t… In the best frame of mind.” She took in the blisters once more. “You need to have those looked at…”

“I do,” he agreed. “But I’m being held up.” She flinched at his words.

“Nick, I’m sorry…”

“Not now, Sabrina.” He didn’t have it in him to talk to her right then, not after the rollercoaster day all of them had had. He needed his head clear for this conversation and right now, fresh off of saving her and facing the offspring of the reason he grew up an orphan, all while his skin felt like it was being peeled away, was not the time, never mind the cluster fuck things already were between them before she took off after the Sons.

“But…”

“I need some space,” he cut her off again. “I can’t do this right now. Frankly, I’m in a whole lot of pain and would like see Hilda so I can get some relief and maybe a sleeping draught.”

Sabrina could only nod. She remembered the last time he said he needed space all those years ago, sitting on the end of his bed, refusing to kiss her one more time. She angrily brushed away a tear and watched him walk away from her.

In her quarters, she didn’t bother to change out of her filthy clothes. She collapsed on the sofa and cried herself into a fitful sleep, oblivious to Salem’s attempts to comfort her.

Nick and the Sons of Angels haunted her dreams.

* * *

Sabrina paced the hallway outside of Nick’s door, breathing deep and trying to talk herself into knocking. That’s all she had to do. Knock on the door, and face whatever came next.

Except apparently, she could face a dozen or so violent witch hunters without any real fear but tapping on the door of her ex-boyfriend who had risked his life for her to check to see if he was okay came with crippling fear.

He had said he needed space. She wanted to be respectful of that. He deserved that. But she had woken up before the sun fretting about him. She knew he was upset with her. She wasn’t exactly happy with him. Yet she couldn’t stop thinking about the blisters on his arms, neck, and who knew where else, or the fact that he had faced the offspring of the witch hunter that killed his parents. She just wanted to know he was okay.

She would knock on the door, ask if he was okay, and then leave him be.

As long as he was okay.

If he wasn’t okay, she reasoned, she would get help.

She just had to knock on the door first.

“Sabrina?” She looked down the hall to find Hilda approaching with a tray ladened with breakfast and what looked like a potion. “What on earth are you doing?”

“I wanted to check on him,” she admitted. “But…” She shrugged half-heartedly. “We’re not in a good place right now. I’m not sure he wants to see me.”

“You two,” Hilda shook her head in dismay. “Come along, Sabrina. My hands are full. I’ll need you to knock on the door.”

Sabrina followed Hilda the remaining few feet to Nick’s door. She froze in front of it and look to her aunt. Hilda gave her an encouraging nod, prompting her to knock. She managed to duck behind Hilda before Nick opened the door.

“Hilda,” Nick greeted. He spied Sabrina behind her. “Sabrina,” he added in a more neutral tone.

“I told you I’d bring breakfast,” Hilda said. “I’ve also got some more balm as well as a potion that will help with the healing and any remaining sting. How did you sleep?”

“Well enough, thanks to that tea you gave me.” Nick stepped aside to allow her to enter his quarters. Sabrina remained in the doorway. “The burn isn’t nearly as bad this morning either.”

“Good,” Hilda approved. She jerked her head towards Sabrina as she passed Nick. “She was pacing the hall outside your door when I got here.” Sabrina remained rooted to her spot, unsure if Nick’s invitation included her and wishing Hilda didn’t have such a big mouth. “I’ll just put this down, then.” Hilda bustled away, leaving Nick and Sabrina in the doorway.

“I just wanted…” Sabrina stopped and took a breath. She could do this. “I wanted to check on you.” She cringed, remembering the last time she showed up at his door to check on him. “Just, with the holy water and the Son…”

“I’m fine.” His tone gave away nothing, no matter how much her brain tried to dissect it. “No lasting harm.”

“Okay,” Sabrina nodded. She willed the tears not to fall from her eyes and suddenly felt like she needed to get as far away from him as possible. “I’m going to… Go… Space…” She fled and Nick didn’t stop her. He sighed, shut the door, and took a moment to collect himself before he went to see what Hilda had brought. He knew he needed to find Sabrina and try, again, to have a sensible conversation, but he also needed his wounds treated and to prepare for Henry’s arrival. He opted to focus on food and healing for now.

“French toast this morning,” Hilda said. “But I want to take a look at those burns first. Off with the shirt.” Nick didn’t think anything of removing his shirt. Hilda was nothing if not professional. He perched on the sofa arm so she could tend to him. “These do look better,” she commented as she examined his left arm. “You said the burning has calmed down?”

“It’s not too bad,” Nick told her. “I suspect it’ll be gone all together by day’s end.”

“I’ll have you take another dose of this potion this evening all the same,” Hilda decided. She moved on to check the blisters on Nick’s back. The damage here was more severe. He winced as she lightly felt over the raw and blistered skin. “It was a brave thing you did last night, chasing after Sabrina like that.”

“I wasn’t going to let her fend for herself,” Nick said.

“I know the pair of you had a fight,” Hilda chanced. “I heard you tell Ambrose.”

“We had a fight,” Nick confirmed with an air of guilt. “It was… Well, it was a pretty bad one. I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

“She’s worried about you,” Hilda continued. “The girl will face witch hunters all by her lonesome, but she was standing out there like a lost child when I came along, trying to work up the courage to knock on your door when I showed up.”

“I wouldn’t have turned her away if she had knocked.” He wasn’t entirely sure what he would have done, but he didn’t think he would have sent her away without at least hearing what she had to say.

“Isn’t that what just happened?” Hilda wondered. “She took off like a shot.”

“I didn’t send her away,” Nick shook his head. “She left before I could do more than tell her I was okay.” Hilda moved on to his other arm.

“Zelda says I meddle, but I think you should know, Nicholas, that she didn’t take your leaving Greendale well.” Nick was silent, his eyes downcast as he listened. “It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, should it? The first time you broke up with her, she burned that blasted candle, didn’t she? No, she came back inside and burst into tears. It took days to coax her around to coming out of her room, getting dressed, eating…”

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” Nick said in a quiet voice that betrayed how full of regret he was. For the first time, he let someone see the crack in his armor when it came to his decision to walk away from her. Hilda hadn’t always been a fan of his, even when he first returned to Greendale. But their relationship had shifted over the last several weeks and he thought she might like him well enough these days. She was a safe place to be honest. “I thought she would be happy.”

“I suppose she was for a time.” Hilda picked up a tin of balm and set to work rubbing it into Nick’s blisters one by one. “She didn’t go right back to Harvey, you know. It took them some time. It was about ten years into their marriage where the cracks started to show, and those cracks gave way to a crumbling foundation around year twenty.” Hilda shook her head. “The girl wanted to be a mum. I knew that was something she wanted, but I didn’t realize how desperately until we had a chat one afternoon after Harvey had refused her again. I suppose she pushed for it so hard because he was a mortal and she knew her time with him was limited.”

Nick remained quiet. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to hear this or not. In some ways, it was salt in his wounds, no matter the actual balm Hilda was putting on his blisters. In other ways, it was information he needed to know.

“I know they say I enabled her.” Hilda moved to his other arm. “But once Cee passed, I was a bit lost myself. Moving back into the mortuary made sense. And then I began to see how very unhappy she was and with Theo and Roz gone… Well, she didn’t have anyone else, did she?”

Nick cringed, but it had nothing to do with the pangs of pain coming from his blisters.

“Ambrose and Zelda stayed away more than they were home, at least until those last few years, Ambrose off doing Hecate knows what around the world, Zelda running the Academy… I was the one there watching the Sabrina we knew fade away. Talking to her didn’t help her, so I did what I could, which was make sure she had food and that she didn’t have to bear the entire burden of caring for her home and that man alone.”

“You were there for her,” Nick observed. He had never considered it from another point of view. He had only ever saw the strong, independent witch he had loved so much stripped down to a shell of herself. Part of him had blamed the Spellmans for not stopping it. But he saw now that Sabrina had unraveled slowly, that for a time, she had been alone in the mortuary with Harvey while the Spellmans lived their lives outside its walls. By the time Hilda showed up, Sabrina had had nearly thirty years to spiral.

“As much as I could be,” Hilda confirmed. “I’ll admit that I had a soft spot for Harvey. He always seemed so kind, despite his goofy mannerisms. I know, too, that if you asked my sister, she would say I thought he hung the moon. But not quite. I didn’t like putting on a glamour nearly every day either and I certainly didn’t like how he didn’t give my girl everything she deserved.”

Something in Nick tightened at how Hilda called Sabrina ‘my girl.’

“I’d quite like to burn him at the stake now, so to speak.” She moved to his back. “This will hurt a bit, Nicholas. These blisters are quite a bit more substantial.”

“I’ll be okay,” Nick said. He winced again as she went to work, his hands digging into his legs in an effort to counter the pain.

“Sabrina has seemed more like herself these last weeks, at least up until these last few days,” Hilda continued. “It’s been nice to see.”

“Taking off after a band of witch hunters on her own certainly feels on brand for her,” Nick stated. To his surprise, Hilda chuckled a bit.

“It seems the pair of you need to talk,” she mentioned. “Really talk.”

“We do,” Nick agreed. “I’m not sure she’s interested in anything I have to say however.”

“She’ll listen,” Hilda assured him. “I don’t know what happened between the pair of you, but I think we all knew there would be a time when things imploded between you. They had to, really, if there was ever going to be a chance at reconciliation between you.”

“I took it too far, Hilda,” Nick admitted. “I was angry, hurting… She’s already so fragile and I think I pushed her over the edge. Ah!” He tensed as Hilda hit an especially sore part.

“Sorry, love,” she apologized. “Nearly done. They do look much better than last night, promise.” She resumed rubbing the balm in. “That’s the thing with Sabrina, isn’t it? She’s always had to go right up to the edge before she can reel it back and see things clearly.”

Nick didn’t bother to reply. He only nodded his agreement and considered if it would help or hurt to seal the pair of them in a room and not let them out of it until things were resolved.

“Zelda tells me you’ve called a – friend – to help us?” she asked, shifting the subject much to his relief.

“Henry,” Nick nodded. “He’ll be here this evening. He wanted to come sooner, but he couldn’t get his classes covered in time.”

“We’re speeding towards battle, aren’t we?”

“We are,” Nick agreed. He certainly was. Both with the Sons and with Sabrina. “We most definitely are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Nick put it, pretty on brand for Sabrina to take off, eh? I had already written in about him using her ring as a way to find her and lo and behold, there were the necklaces in part four. Lovely tie in there. 
> 
> I do think Nick's conversation with Hilda was my favorite though. I think Hilda is sometimes looked at as the somewhat aloof aunt that likes to bake, but she's actually really perceptive and did what she could to help Sabrina with Harvey. 
> 
> Next chapter, we meet... Henry! He's got a little fan club already, so I'm hopeful y'all like him as much "in person." 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this one!


	14. The First Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allow me to introduce, formally, to Henry O'Leary.

Sabrina found herself standing in front of the fridge once more as she surveyed its contents. Absolutely nothing looked appealing. She was in a weird place between starving and absolutely not even a little bit hungry. She knew she needed to eat. She wanted to eat. But the idea of eating was not enticing. So she just stood there, trying to decide on something.

She picked up a container of hummus and studied it as though it held all the world’s secrets. She made a face at the idea of her mouth tasting like garlic and put it back. There was a block of cheese front and center. She thought about a cheese platter, but that didn’t feel like the right idea either. With a huff, she shut the door and went to the pantry. She surveyed the shelves the same way she had the fridge. Her eyes landed on a box of Cheez-Its.

“That will work,” she muttered. She plucked the box from the shelf. She spied a jar of peanut butter and grabbed that, too. She left the pantry and put her finds on the counter while she dug out an apple from the large basket of fruit Hilda kept. She busied herself with coring and slicing it, then got a second one and did the same. “Cheez-Its, peanut butter, and apples, Heaven of a dinner, Sabrina,” she said to herself.

She dumped the apple slices into a bowl and found a butterknife for the peanut butter. She heard footsteps and paused, listening. The sound of a very familiar male voice along with one she didn’t recognize but knew all the same made its way to her.

“Dammit,” she sighed. She was a disheveled mess and desperately didn’t want to run into Nick or his lover, ex or otherwise, right then. But she was trapped with no way out of the kitchen except past them. She ran a hand over her hair as though that would repair the look of her in sweats and a cropped t-shirt, her hair tangled, no makeup on, the bags under her eyes dark and heavy because somehow, despite how tired she was, she couldn’t sleep more than a few hours at a time.

“What are you hungry for?” Nick was asking. “Hilda keeps this place well-stocked, and she and I go to the market together a couple of times week. You want it, we’ve most likely got it.”

The pair entered the kitchen, wrapped up in their conversation and oblivious to the fact that they weren’t alone. It afforded Sabrina a moment to take in Henry. He was fair skinned and red-haired, a bit shorter than Nick, stocky built, rugged but attractive all the same. His hair was long, pulled into a neat knot at the back of his head. His beard was cropped short, well-groomed. His heavy accent told her he was Scottish in the most stereotypical way. He wasn’t what she imagined when Nick spoke of him.

“I’m hungry enough to eat my arm,” he was saying to Nick. “Surprise me. I’ve missed your cooking.” He noticed Sabrina first. “Oh! Hello there.”

Nick looked her way. Sabrina saw his surprise at finding her there, then the moment of recognition click for him. His ex-girlfriend whom he apparently regretted every getting involved with and his ex-boyfriend, whom she had decided he was still madly in love with, both in the same room. She damned Zelda to Heaven for making it so she couldn’t teleport away from the scene right then and there, because she most certainly would if she could.

“Hi,” she managed.

“Henry, this is Sabrina,” Nick introduced. There no denying his nerves. “Sabrina, Henry.”

Henry’s smile was warm.

“Sabrina,” he said as though she were an old friend. “It’s so nice to finally put a face to the name.”

“Welcome to the Academy,” she said politely. She wondered what, exactly, Nick had told him about her. Probably that she was the root cause of everything bad that had ever happened to him. “I was just… On my way upstairs…” She couldn’t get out of the kitchen fast enough.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner?” Henry proposed. Nick pursed his lips. Henry had no idea about his night with Sabrina or the subsequent fight they had. “I know you’ve had some of this guy’s cooking.” He jerked a thumb at Nick. “It’ll be a treat. Although I hear your aunt is quite the cook as well.”

“Thank you for the invite, but I’m going to take my dinner in my quarters,” she said. It took all she had to remain polite. She noted Nick didn’t speak. “Enjoy.” She did her best not to full out run from the room, thinking she might actually run once she was out of their sight.

“Sabrina?”

She stopped and reluctantly turned back to Nick and Henry at the sound of Nick saying her name. He motioned to her makeshift meal sitting on the kitchen island.

“Forgetting something?”

“Oh,” she stammered. “Right.” She went back to the island and snatched up her food. “Thanks.”

She was gone.

Henry looked after her with a raised eyebrow.

“So that was Sabrina,” he observed.

“One in the same,” Nick confirmed. He went to the fridge. “You were too slow to make a decision. We’re having steak.”

“She couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”

“She’s jealous of you,” Nick offered. He tossed the package of steak on the counter. “Honestly? She was nicer than I expected her to be.”

“Jealous of me?” Henry repeated. “Seriously?”

“Very serious.”

“If anyone had the right to be jealous in this triangle, it would be me,” Henry pointed out.

“Are you jealous?” Nick asked. He had a flirty tilt to his half-grin, but Henry saw right through it.

“I’m not,” he shook his head. “I can say that with absolute honestly. It would be different if she had stolen your heart from me, but she always had it.” Nick pursed his lips, turning over a number of responses, before opting to bow out of the conversation.

“Since we’re having steak, we need potatoes.” He disappeared into the pantry. Henry watched the pantry door, waiting for him to emerge. When he did, bag of potatoes in hand, he pounced.

“You’re not telling me something.”

“Want these potatoes mashed, baked, or roasted?” Nick countered.

“Mashed,” Henry stated. “Don’t change the subject. What aren’t you telling me?”

Nick sighed. Henry had always had a way of digging out the truth, not just with him, but with anyone. He was as much an empath as he was a warlock. He went to the fridge and found two beers. He opened them both and passed one to Henry.

“You’re going to need this,” he said.

“Ah, that kind of story,” Henry observed. He took a seat on the kitchen stool. “Do tell, Mr. Scratch.”

Nick settled on the stool across from Henry. It would probably help him to talk about things with someone and Henry had always been a good listener.

“We slept together,” he admitted, not quite able to meet Henry’s eyes as he confessed. Henry’s eyebrows shot up.

“Figured it was a matter of time before that happened.” Something clicked for him. “It was the night the witch hunters killed the boy and you FaceTimed me. She was at your door.”

“One in the same,” Nick confirmed. “She wanted to check on me, knew I was upset. Things took a turn. I’ll save you the details, but I stopped her from leaving, kissed her, and the next thing I knew, we were in bed.”

“And then?” Henry prompted.

“Well, the sex didn’t suck,” Nick revealed. “I asked her to stay, fell asleep with her in my arms. I woke up a few hours later and she was gone.”

“Things went downhill from there?” Henry guessed.

“Like a luge in the winter Olympics,” Nick confirmed. He turned up his beer. “She avoided me for a few days, I found her in the sanctum, words were exchanged.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I said some things I regret.”

“Such as?” Henry prompted.

“You should have been a therapist,” Nick countered. “You’re too damned good at getting people to talk.”

“About as good as you are at avoiding talking,” Henry retorted. “What happened next?”

“I lost it,” Nick confessed. “I have a lot of complicated emotions with her and in that particular moment, it was mostly anger that came out. She was already pretty fragile, and I just let loose. Fifty years of pent up anger, at both her and myself, came out.” He traced the bottle opening with his finger. “I blamed her for how her life turned out when I know damned well she was emotionally abused. Then, because that wasn’t hurtful enough, I told her I regretted ever getting involved with her.”

“Dammit Nick,” Henry sighed. He turned up his own beer. “What the Heaven, man?”

“I know,” Nick shook his head. “It just came out. It’s not what I meant, but I ripped her heart out when I said it. When Ambrose told me she was missing…” His hand tightened around the bottle. “I was terrified, Henry. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Regardless, but especially not because of me, and I know she went after the Sons herself because of what I said. That’s how she is – she gets caught up in the whirlwind of it all and acts without thinking. She was upset and she needed to do something, and that something almost got us both killed.”

“So you’re a few days past sex, a day or so past your showdown, and you’ve done what to try to fix things?”

“We’re doing a really good job of actively avoiding each other,” Nick admitted. “You saw her just now. She couldn’t get away from me fast enough.” He chewed on his lip. “I did tell her I needed some space last night. I meant in the moment, when she chased me down after everything was over. I was running on empty by then. I couldn’t face another argument with her. But I think she’s taking that request quite literally now.”

“That’s generally what one means when they say they need ‘space,’” Henry pointed out.

“She came by my quarters this morning,” Nick continued. He had always been able to talk to Henry. Henry was one of the only people outside of those in Greendale that knew the true extent of what he had been through so long ago. He was pretty much the only person he would talk openly about his issues with Sabrina with now. And now that he had started to talk, he didn’t want to stop. “Apparently she was pacing the hallway for a while, trying to work up the nerve to knock before Hilda came along to check on my burns and made her.”

“What happened then?” Henry asked.

“She said she wanted to check on me after last night, I said I was fine, and she took off again, muttering about space.”

“And now I’m here,” Henry surmised, thinking of the girl he had heard so much about over the years he felt like he knew her. “She’s not okay, Nick. I could sense that in the few moments I got with her just now.”

“I know she’s not okay,” Nick replied. “Everyone knows she’s not okay.”

“No,” Henry shook his head. “I’m not talking about the obvious, with her dead husband and the witch hunters and all the years of unhappiness. I mean she’s not okay. She’s holding onto a lot of hurt from a long time ago. Both of you are. You might have let some of yours out, but she’s been holding it all in for a long time, on top of everything else she’s been through.” He took another swig of his beer. “She’s barely holding on. She’s slipping deeper and deeper into the darkness. Like she was fighting and now she’s just – given up.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Nick asked. There was a desperate note to his question. “We’ve got this witch hunters business hovering over us, things are a mess between her and I….”

“You’re going to have to talk to her,” Henry said point blank. “Talk, too. No using that body of yours to do the talking for you.” He smirked a bit. Nick’s cheeks tinged pink. Henry knew him well. “You would talk about your dinners with her and that little adventure you took out of the Academy and I could tell things were progressing, but I also expected things to boil over before you two could move forward. Granted, not to this extent, but I suppose you’ve never done anything small, have you?”

“No,” Nick admitted. “And neither has she.”

“Fix it,” Henry advised. “Man up and admit your mistakes, tell her, clearly, what you want from her.” He eyed Nick. “Her birthday is in a few days. Can’t imagine you’d let a year go without making sure she gets her flowers.”

Nick’s eyes widened.

“You knew?”

“One gets curious when their boyfriend disappears in the early morning hours on the same day of the year, every year. I followed you once.” His smile was a bit sad. “Like I said, I always knew your heart belonged to someone else. I wanted to know who.”

“I know I’ve apologized for not being able to fully give myself to you, but I really am sorry, Henry,” Nick told him in a vulnerable, sincere moment. “I did the best I could.”

“I know you did,” Henry said with no hint of malice. “You gave that girl your heart when you were a teenager. You’ve waited a long time to have another chance.” He smiled at Nick. This time, the smile was genuine. “Now you’ve got one.”

“Assuming she’ll ever be able to be in the same room with me again,” Nick said. From where he sat, things looked even more unlikely than they had back when he was a teenager and hoping for a one percent chance of winning her back.

“It’ll all work out,” Henry said with confidence. “Now, how about that steak dinner?” Nick chuckled and got to his feet.

“I’m on it.” He reached for the steak and set to unwrapping it. “I’m glad you’re here, Henry.”

“Me, too,” Henry said. “If only for the cooking.”

* * *

Sabrina hated Henry O’Leery.

Everyone else loved him. Everyone else seemed to think he was Hecate’s gift to the world, let alone the coven. But she hated him.

She hated how he was ruggedly handsome.

She hated how he was as intelligent as Nick or Ambrose.

She loathed how her aunts fell all over him, how even _Prudence_ liked him. Prudence, who had met him before, who greeted him like an old friend, and Henry who returned her hug in kind.

Mostly, she hated how intimate Nick was with him.

She had spent the last three days covertly glowering at them when she had to be in the same room with them, the determination to end the Sons of Angels renewed in the wake of Mohan’s death and Henry’s arrival. She hated watching the easy smiles the two traded, their inside jokes, their reminiscing as they worked.

She _really_ hated the reminiscing.

She was being entirely unfair. She knew that. She knew she had absolutely no ground to stand on when it came to Nick and Henry. But Nick was barely speaking to her – she was certainly barely speaking to him – and just the night before when Hilda had all but manhandled her to the dinner table with them, she had had to listen to them recount the details of a trip they took to Belgrade and she wanted to end them all right then and there, even Ambrose who was practically giddy at having a third warlock of caliber in their midst. It was hard to see them together, to see how easy their relationship was, when she and Nick had a history of being either entirely great together or entirely bad for one another. She was jealous, she knew it, and instead of attempting to overcome it, she was leaning into it.

The thing she hated most of all was how nice Henry was.

Because fate hated her at the moment, he had sat across from her at dinner the night before and asked if she was okay when he noticed she had barely touched her food. Nick, sat at his side where he always seemed to be, had only glanced at her and averted his eyes when she happened to look in his direction. Henry had even offered to get her something different to eat from Hilda’s buffet spread if she wasn’t happy with her selection and had the gall to refill her water glass when he noticed it was empty. She had left the table absolutely steaming mad for no apparent reason and sequestered away in her quarters for the rest of the night to avoid any further discussion with him – or Nick.

But she was trying. She was doing her damnedest to be an active participant in their quest to attack the Sons first. She kept her distance, sitting across the room from them when at all possible, but she was trying to do her part. It had to count for something that she had stayed in rooms with them when she wasn’t manning study hall and Nick wasn’t teaching. The only thing she had steadfastly refused to do was be in a room alone with Henry. She didn’t trust herself not to hex him if left without supervision.

“The Sons of Angels really did find any and all Christian guard they could,” Henry remarked as he surveyed the copious notes they now had thanks in part to the Son Sabrina had brought back with her and Nick. “I’m begrudgingly impressed.”

“They aren’t messing with just any coven of witches though, are they?” Ambrose said. “They came to fight. Sabrina being the daughter of Lucifer and all.”

“Things we don’t need to discuss,” she said from her place across the room.

“Just a fact,” Ambrose shrugged. She would always be sensitive about her parentage, not that he could blame her. He flipped through the pages of a text he had unearthed from somewhere. “Mortals keep some weird things and call them religious,” he observed.

“They do,” Henry agreed. “The problem with being a warlock is that you can’t get into the churches most of these relics are kept in to study them. Nick and I did get to see the heart of St. Camillus though. It was on tour, so to speak, and we went to the Philippines to get a look at it.”

“What’s that?” Prudence wondered.

“St. Camillus was a soldier and a gambler,” Nick answered. “He later repented and devoted his life to caring for the sick. He was denied entry to the Capuchin due to a leg injury, so he established the Order of Clerics Regular, Ministers to the Sick. They assisted injured soldiers on the battlefield and oddly enough, their symbol was a cross, centuries before the mortals formed the Red Cross. People believed the cross was imprinted on his heart, due to his charity, so when he died, his heart was removed and preserved with salt.”

“It’s more weird than anything,” Henry added. “Fascinating nonetheless though.” He grinned at Nick. “That was a really good trip.”

“It was,” Nick agreed with a similar grin. “We had that incredible dinner…”

“Ah, that was one of the top three meals I’ve ever eaten,” Henry agreed. “And then we went to that little bistro club…”

Sabrina had heard enough.

Without a word, she pushed back from the desk she was seated at and left the room. Henry looked at Nick and Ambrose.

“Should someone…” he motioned after Sabrina.

“No,” Nick shook his head. “Let her go.”

“Agreed.” Ambrose shuffled through a stack of papers. “She’s been a right joy as of late. I could do without her pleasant demeanor for a bit.” He was rather fed up with the tension between Nick and Sabrina and wished one of the two of them would hurry up and do something about it before he took matters into his own hands. He didn’t have confirmation, but he suspected something intimate had happened between them that they were actively avoiding discussing.

The group worked in quiet for a while, reading, taking notes. Henry stretched his arms overhead, his mind clicking together pieces.

“Any chance there are books on Christianity in this place?” he asked. “I want to fact check a few things, but all we have here are myths and historical retellings.”

“Those texts would be in the sanctum,” Nick supplied.

“Anything about the False God is kept there,” Ambrose added. “In the library, up the spiral stairs. It’ll be empty. Students need permission to even access the staircase – it will quite literally spit them out if they put so much as a toe on it without it – but staff and full power witches and warlocks such as yourself are welcomed to access it.”

“I’ll be back then.”

Henry wound his way through the Academy he was rapidly learning the layout of. He liked the school, found it interesting. It was good to see the place that had defined so much of Nick’s life, to meet the people he had spoken of so often. He felt like he knew the mysterious warlock he had tried to love a bit better. Plus, they had made a lot of progress in the three days he had been there. They were close to being able to put a plan into action.

He was thinking through ways for witches to counter the sacraments protecting the Sons of Angels as he entered the sanctum.

He wasn’t alone.

Sabrina Spellman was there, seated at the one desk in the circular space.

“Sabrina,” he greeted. “I didn’t expect anyone to be up here, based on what Ambrose said.”

“I was just leaving.” She was in no mood to be trapped in a small space with him. She was starting to realize the sanctum was not the place she could be alone.

“Actually…” Henry had been waiting to get a moment alone with her and it was clear to him she had not, in fact, had any plans of going anywhere until his arrival. “Since you’re here… I’d like a chance to talk to you.” He smiled at her, friendly and open and she hated him even more. “Get to know you.”

“There’s too much to do for small talk,” Sabrina tried as she stood. Henry, however, was between her and the entrance.

“I know about you and Nick,” he told her. “Both from all those years ago and that you slept together recently.”

“Look at Nick, telling all of our secrets,” she muttered.

“I forced it out of him,” Henry admitted. “How are you doing with all of this?” Sabrina looked at him, surprised by the question. “It’s a lot,” he continued, aware he had her attention, “your ex being back here, the knowledge of what your dead husband did, never mind the added complications of you and Nick having slept together, the pair of you fighting, and now, his ex,” Henry motioned at himself, “arriving.”

“I’m fine…”

Henry shook his head.

“You’re not,” he observed. “You look like utter Heaven.”

“That’s nice of you,” Sabrina spit.

“You don’t like me,” Henry acknowledged. “Simply because Nick and I have history.” Sabrina didn’t deny it. “I get that. I thought about not liking you, too. You’re the girl that kept the guy I loved from giving himself to me. But I recognize that Nick tried. He gave me all he had. But it’s hard to compete with a ghost, so once we broke up, I asked him to tell me about you. It was the first time I ever saw absolute love and adoration in that warlock’s eyes.”

“He seems to adore you just fine,” Sabrina stated.

“He cares for me,” Henry nodded. “But not in the way he needed to for us to be more than a short-lived couple.” He held her eyes. “He couldn’t love me when he loves another.”

“Nick left,” she said. “He didn’t stick around to find out if he and I would be anything other than teenage sweethearts. He doesn’t love me.”

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Henry realized. “Nick has left you in the past. It terrifies you that he might do it again.” Again, Sabrina said nothing. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Henry of all people. Her silence confirmed that Henry was right. “You need to tell him that, Sabrina. He needs to know.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Nick and I aren’t speaking right now,” Sabrina informed him. “I suppose it has something to do with his regrets about ever getting involved with me. And after some of the other things he said, I can’t say I want to talk to him either.”

The adult thing would be to sit down with Nick and have a hard conversation. Avoiding him felt a heaven of a lot easier, even if there was nothing easy about their current situation.

“People say things they don’t mean in the heat of the moment,” Henry reminded her. “But I can assure you that Nick’s regrets have nothing to do with ever getting to know you.”

Sabrina considered Henry. He returned the favor, not backing down.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she wondered. “I haven’t exactly been warm and welcoming.”

“You’re hurting,” Henry said. “And you’re important to Nick, who, like it or not, is important to me.”

“I don’t hate that he has you,” Sabrina ventured as she softened toward him. Henry gave her a look. She sighed. “I guess I’m jealous,” she confessed. “It’s not fair, but it is what it is. It would be a lot easier to hate you if you were the asshole I had built you up to be.”

To her surprise, Henry chuckled.

“Same goes for you. You haven’t exactly been an example of hospitality, but knowing what I know about you… I showed up in the middle of a giant mess, both with the witch hunters and with you and Nick. I’m willing to give you a pass for your less than hospitable welcome.”

“I’m sorry,” Sabrina sighed, the fight to not like Henry going out of her. “I know I’ve been awful to you.”

“You’re hurting,” Henry said again. “You have been for a long time. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

Sabrina stood and walked around the table, her mind made up. She stopped in front of Henry and held her hand out.

“Start over?” she requested.

“Start over,” Henry agreed. He shook her hand. “I’m Henry.”

“Sabrina.” She had to smile, just a little. She dropped his hand. “I’m sure you came up here for something aside from talking to me, so I should let you get to it.”

“You don’t have to run off,” Henry said. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“No, it’s fine,” Sabrina shook her head. “I’m going to go to try to take a nap before dinner. I haven’t been sleeping well, what with everything going on.”

“You and Nick really should talk,” Henry told her again. “It would solve a lot for both of you if you just told each other how you feel.”

“Nick would need to talk to me,” Sabrina reminded him with a sad sort of smile. “He’s not doing that right now.”

“There are other ways to communicate besides talking,” Henry hinted. Sabrina nodded in understanding.

She left the sanctum and set on course for her quarters thinking perhaps Henry wasn’t the worst after all. Once in her quarters, she laid down on her bed and pulled her throw over her, thinking about what he said about other ways to communicate. Salem curled up beside her and she fell asleep stroking his fur.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

_Sabrina and her aunts looked at once another as the sound of footsteps descending the stairs made their way to her._

_“About bloody time,” Zelda muttered. Sabrina glared at her. She stood as a man in religious garb appeared in the doorway._

_“I’ll be on my way, Mrs. Kinkle,” the man said._

_“Spellman,” Sabrina corrected automatically. There was a note of challenge in her tone. Something about the man rubbed her wrong and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was clergy._

_“Of course, Mrs. Spellman,” he corrected. “I’ve issued his last rites. It won’t be long now, I’m afraid. You’ll want to go to him.”_

_“Thank you for coming Father…” She blanked on his last name._

_“Gabriel,” he finished. “Father Gabriel.” He eyed her in a way that made her discomfort with him grow. She saw Ambrose appear behind him. He hung back, tucked in the shadows, but was at the ready if his cousin needed his help. “You have his wishes?”_

_“We do,” Sabrina agreed. She offered no more._

_“Good day, ladies,” Father Gabriel directed towards Hilda and Zelda. Hilda, in her glamour disguise of Helen, their faithful maid, returned his farewell in kind. Zelda, believed by Father Gabriel and the rest of the mortals that traipsed through to say goodbye to Harvey thought her to be Sabrina’s great aunt Esmerelda, newly arrived from somewhere in Europe, didn’t much as look his way. If there weren’t so much else going on and if she didn’t have Ambrose there to run interference, Sabrina would have been more concerned about how flimsy Zelda’s cover story was._

_Ambrose went to the window to peer through the blinds._

_“He’s getting in his car,” he reported. “Big ugly thing, makes the hearse look like a luxury car.” Sabrina rolled her eyes. “He’s reversing… And he’s gone.” He turned away from the blinds. “There’s something about that guy I don’t like.”_

_“Probably the whole Catholic thing,” Sabrina said. “But I felt it too.” She glanced up the stairs. “I should go up there. He doesn’t have long.”_

_“If you need anything…” Ambrose offered._

_“I know,” Sabrina nodded. “Thank you, Ambrose.”_

_Ambrose only returned her nod and moved to join the aunts in the parlor._

_Sabrina climbed the stairs at a slow pace. Harvey would take his last breath any minute now. She would be a widow, this chapter of her life closed, the next one a blank slate. She had tried to envision it in quiet moments, but so far hadn’t gotten past the thought of sleeping in her old bed._

_She paused in the door to take in the scene. The bedroom now more closely resembled a hospital room with all of his pill bottles and medical equipment. Harvey lay in the center of the bed, rake thin and pale, his breath ragged. He had asked for all efforts to prolong his life to be removed, including the portable oxygen tank that now sat unused in a corner. A loud rattle emitted from him._

_“The death rattle,” his hospice nurse, a kind young woman named Kay who helped them during the nighttime hours, said. Her shift had just begun, but Sabrina was sure she wouldn’t be there for the entirety of it. “I gave him more morphine to make him comfortable. It won’t be long now.”_

_Sabrina only nodded._

_“‘Brina,” Harvey choked out. He put all his effort into moving his fingers to indicate he wanted her to come closer._

_“I’ll leave the pair of you alone,” Kay offered. Sabrina wished she wouldn’t. “Call if you need me.”_

_When she was gone, Sabrina perched on the edge of the bed. She took Harvey’s hand in hers. It was cold, near lifeless. She found she didn’t know what to say. She was torn into thirds. Part of her wanted to offer him comfort. Part of her wanted to tell him how terrible the last however many years had been. And part of her wanted him to hurry up and die for both their sakes._

_“’Brina,” Harvey repeated._

_“I’m here,” she said, going with the third that wanted to comfort him. Bitter as she was, she couldn’t turn her back on him now. “Is there anything I can do for you?”_

_“Thank… You…” Harvey managed._

_“Thank you?” Sabrina repeated, confused._

_“You… Good… Wife…” Her heart clenched. “I’m… Sorry…” Sabrina’s eyes watered._

_“I loved you, Harvey,” she assured him through her tears. “When I married you, I loved you. I suppose I still do, in some ways.”_

_“Loved… You… Too…” Harvey’s rattle got louder. He fought to keep his eyes open. “I’m… Sorry… I had to…” His eyes blew wide. He smiled as he looked at something she couldn’t see. “God…”_

_He closed his eyes._

_His features went peaceful._

_The rattling stopped._

_He was gone._

_Sabrina took a shuttering breath. Her fingers shifted around his wrist to check for a pulse, just to be sure. There was none. She blew out a long breath as her shoulders relaxed, the tension that had been there these last six months as she cared for Harvey and waited for this moment gone with his final breath._

_She took a moment to relish the quiet and suppressed the guilt that came from feeling relief._

_Her eyes caught sight of the thin, plain wedding band she wore. She had long ago lost the engagement ring he gave her, a small thing, all he could afford at the time. She had treasured it at first, thought it felt like a weight as time went on. The urge to rip the ring off now was strong, but she refrained. She only had to pretend a little longer._

_She took another breath and braced herself. She left the room and wandered through the house in search of Kay. She found the nurse in the kitchen with her aunts and Ambrose, all settled around the table with tea. Hilda rather liked the young woman. Ambrose was indifferent. Zelda hated her on principle. They all looked at her when she entered._

_“He’s gone.”_

_Zelda’s relief was barely contained. Hilda’s eyes watered. Ambrose merely bit into a cookie. Kay, however, got to her feet._

_“Mrs. Spellman, I am so sorry.” She enveloped Sabrina in a warm hug. Sabrina did her best to return it in a meaningful way. “Would you like me to take care of making the arrangements for transport?”_

_“Yes, please,” Sabrina nodded. “Thank you, Kay. For everything.”_

_Kay had certainly made her life easier. She was indifferent to the girl, but she had looked forward to her arrival around dinnertime every evening so she could tap out of caring for Harvey._

_“It’s my job,” Kay assured her. “I’ll be upstairs.”_

_Sabrina waited until she was gone to turn her attention to his family._

_“Odd, the idea of having an undertaker come to our house.” Ambrose broke the silence. “We haven’t accepted bodies in years, but I haven’t forgotten how to embalm one.”_

_“Harvey drew up his wishes while he was still able,” Sabrina reminded them._

_“I’m just glad we didn’t need to have the discussion of whether or not he would be buried in the Spellman family cemetery,” Zelda commented._

_“Zelda,” Hilda warned as she got to her feet. Zelda merely shrugged. Sabrina was with Zelda, however. She had felt anxious at the idea of having to discuss where Harvey would be buried. It felt wrong to have him in her family’s plot. When he said he wanted to be buried in the town cemetery near his father, she had breathed a sigh of relief. She leaned into Hilda’s warm embrace. “Sabrina, love, what can I do for you?”_

_“You’ve done plenty,” Sabrina assured her aunt. “I’m going to go upstairs though. I need… A minute…”_

_“Of course,” Hilda said. “Go say your final goodbyes.”_

_Sabrina hurried out of the kitchen, but she didn’t go to the bedroom she had shared with Harvey. She bypassed it, not bothering to even peek inside, and flung herself through the door of her childhood bedroom._

_The room felt like safety._

_That safety tore her open._

_The sob that erupted from her had been building for decades. She doubled over, gasping for breath and letting her tears pour. They weren’t tears of sadness but of heartache. Nothing about her life had turned out the way she had thought it would, the way she had dreamed. She had dug in her heels and pushed through her disappointment with it all because she felt she had to, because she was sometimes too loyal and she always cared too much. She had pushed down who she was and what she wanted before she had ever realized it and once she had, she had a terminally ill husband and a loveless marriage on her hands that she felt obligated to see through to the end._

_The end had come._

_Harvey was gone now._

_She no longer had a husband to think of, a marriage façade to keep up. Harvey’s last breath felt like it became her first one in a very long time._

_The guilt came then._

_Despite how awful their relationship was, she had still held onto a small amount of love for Harvey. She was his wife, and she wasn’t supposed to feel relief at his death. She was supposed to feel grief, sorrow._

_She cried harder._

_“Cousin?”_

_Ambrose let himself into the room._

_“He’s gone,” Sabrina managed. She noticed Ambrose’s glamour was gone, like walking into the room had melted it away. She looked to the mirror and saw her own had fallen away too. “He’s gone, Ambrose.”_

_“I’m sorry, cousin,” he offered. He pulled her into his arms. She cried harder. “It’s going to be okay, Sabrina. I promise.”_

_Ambrose thought she was upset about the loss of Harvey. And a small part of her was. But it wasn’t grief that was causing her to fall apart._

_It was the fact that she was free._

_Free from the marriage she should have never been in, from the life that had suffocated her for so long. Free to be whomever she wanted to be._

_Except she had been a wife for so long that she had no idea how to be anything else._

_And that was terrifying._

**_***END FLASHBACK***_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's Henry. A genuine good guy, a true Scot, a real friend to Nick. Sabrina didn't want to like him, but she had to. He's that kind of guy. 
> 
> Next update, she takes his advice to heart. And we have our last flashback (which I'll admit, is my personal favorite one). 
> 
> Thank you so much for all of your kind words these last few chapters. This story felt like a risk and you have made it worth it. Let me know what you thought of this one!


	15. It's A Master Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Henry put it, there are other ways to communicate.

“I have to admit Nick, Hilda can outcook you,” Henry stated. He sat in an armchair in Nick’s living area, feet propped on the coffee table, a tumbler of bourbon in hand. Nick had assumed a similar position on the sofa across from him.

“It was never a contest,” Nick countered. He peered over his bourbon at Henry. He had been waiting for a chance to get him alone to question him about an observation he had made. “Sabrina seemed a little more friendly towards you. I noticed at breakfast this morning and then she outright spoke to you at dinner tonight. She even spoke first.”

“She and I had a little bit of a conversation yesterday,” Henry confessed. “She was in the sanctum when I went in search of those Christianity books.”

“That seems to be the place she runs to these days,” Nick mused.

“Probably thought it would be a good place to be alone.”

“Maybe,” Nick shrugged. Nothing had changed between he and Sabrina. She was keeping her distance and he had done nothing to pull her back to him. He needed to. He wanted to. But with everything else going on, he hadn’t had the brain power to form the words he needed to say. For better or worse, he still struggled to express himself, to be vulnerable, especially when it came to matters of the heart. Sabrina in particular had always been able to stir his emotions into a volatile storm that he navigated poorly. “It’s driving me crazy that the Sons can attack from within their circle, but we can’t attack from outside of it.”

“Oh no,” Henry shook his head. “Don’t change the subject. You’re still avoiding Sabrina. She’s still avoiding you. Why?”

“Well, I did tell her I regretted ever getting involved with her, and there was my whole request for space…”

“Fine, we know why she’s avoiding you,” Henry said. He held onto Sabrina’s confession of being afraid Nick would leave her again. It wasn’t his place share it, but he would if this went on much longer. “Why are you avoiding her?” Nick pursed his lips. He knew why but confessing it would put words to his fears. “Don’t hold it in, Nick. That doesn’t end well for you. You know that. What is it?”

“I really hate you,” Nick commented.

“That’s fine. I’ll take it as confirmation that I’m right.”

Nick sighed. It was useless to try to conceal things from Henry. He had done it for the duration of their relationship, only to open up right after they broke up. Henry wouldn’t force him to talk, avoiding his fears wasn’t a good enough reason not to.

“I’m afraid she’ll reject me,” he admitted. “I’ve hurt her so many times. I’ve used up so many chances. I was already terrified she wouldn’t have one more to give me, but after the things I said…” He paused and shook his head. “I don’t see how she can forgive me this time.”

“You haven’t given her the chance to reject you,” Henry pointed out. “Neither of you have told the other what you want. You’re wasting a lot of time avoiding one another.”

“I can’t explain what it’s like with her,” Nick tried to explain anyway. “When she and I were good, we were _good._ We just got each other. She knew me. I knew her. All I wanted to do was hold her hand. But when we were bad, we were bad. We brought out the worst in each other, just like we did when argued in the sanctum the other day.”

“It sounds like you brought out the best in each other too,” Henry chanced.

“She brought out the best in me,” Nick said. “I don’t know that I ever added much to her life.”

“That right there.” Henry pointed an accusatory finger at Nick who scowled. “That’s a big part of your problem, with Sabrina and with anything else you care about. You don’t think kindly about yourself…”

“I’ve done a lot of awful shit, Henry,” Nick interrupted him. “You know me well, but you still don’t know the half of it…”

“I know enough.” Henry cut him off this time. “I know that you are quick to dismiss anything good in yourself or in your life and that’s holding you back. Sabrina doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl that would have spent much time with you – let alone fought like she did to get you out of Hell – if you didn’t mean something to her.”

“It’s hard for me,” Nick replied in a quieter voice. He avoided eye contact. “It took a lot of courage for me to fall in love with her, and then to fight to get her back after what I did to her. Now, knowing what it’s like to love her and lose her… I’ve been the one that walked away. I don’t know that I’m ready to face _her_ walking away.

“You hear how hypocritical that sounds, right?” Henry asked.

“Why are you here again?” Nick countered.

“Primary reason? Witch hunters. Secondary reason? The guy I care about is shooting himself in the foot time and time again when he could actually be figuring out if the girl he’s loved basically his entire life is willing to give him one more chance.”

“Can we not talk about Sabrina and I anymore?” he asked. “I know you mean well, but it’s pretty much all I think of when I’m not teaching a class or trying to figure out how to take out the witch hunters. I could use a distraction.”

Henry wanted to push further, but he recognized that Nick meant it – he needed a respite from his thoughts about Sabrina.

“So, witch hunters,” he said. “Like you said, they can attack us from within their circle of protection.”

“Which means if we attacked the Sons while they’re at the Kinkles, our spells won’t penetrate them,” Nick finished. “The Sons, however, would be able to shoot out of their circle and pick us off one by one. It would be a suicide mission to try to attack them while their within the Kinkle property.”

“You said Sabrina conjured hellfire?” Henry wondered.

“When she was sixteen, yeah,” Nick confirmed. “She had just signed the Book of the Beast and Greendale was under attack. She saved us all.”

“Were you two together then?” Henry continued. Nick shook his head.

“I wanted to be, but she was dating the mortal and I was starting to understand what it was like to care enough for someone else that you would put aside your own feelings to see them happy.” He sipped his bourbon and worked not to think about how many times he had put aside his own feelings to make her happy, only for her to end up miserable. “Why the question about hellfire?”

“Just thinking out loud,” Henry dismissed. “There’s no Book of the Beast now, right? At least not for this Coven? How does that work?” He knew some Covens chose to still believe in the Dark Lord while others had converted to worshipping Lilith. Very few worshipped Hecate.

“No more signing your name away,” Nick confirmed. “There’s a ritual when you turn sixteen now in which you pledge your devotion to Hecate and she grants you full access to your power, but there’s no longer the need to sign your name in blood or be called upon to show your loyalty through a disgusting devotion.”

“Did you undergo this ritual?” Henry continued. “When the coven made the change?”

“We all did,” Nick nodded. “I haven’t been the most loyal practitioner, but my power comes from Hecate now, has for the last fifty or so years.” Again, he looked at Henry. “But really with the questions?”

“I’m curious,” Henry admitted. “I’m not the most devout guy myself, am I? Despite my claims of devotion to Lilith? I lecture at colleges around the globe about religions of the False Gods until I can no longer pull of the guise of being a mortal, and then I move on. I don’t know much about the Order of Hecate and it’s fascinating.”

“It’s not a bad way of life,” Nick said. “Women are equals, maybe even more powerful. And again, no devotions or blood signatures.”

“Do you still consider yourself covenless?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know,” Nick admitted. “Being here… I wonder sometimes if I was ever truly covenless.”

It was a heavy comment that Henry honored with silence, allowing Nick to process what he had just confessed – that Greendale had always been home. The quiet was broken by a soft tap at his door.

“Expecting someone?” Henry wondered.

“No,” Nick shook his head as he placed his bourbon on the coffee table and stood to answer it. “But I think I know who that knock belongs to.” He crossed the room and unlocked his door. He wasn’t surprised to find Sabrina on the other side of it. She looked nervous, but she kept eye contact.

She held up an envelope with his name on it.

“This is for you,” she said in a quiet voice. “It’s – everything I wanted to say that night and in the days since but couldn’t.” He took it, his eyes never leaving her. “Read it when you want. Or don’t. That’s up to you. But I’ve needed to say this for a while and now I have.”

Satisfied, she turned to walk away. Nick watched her go for a few steps, noted how tired she looked. He had noticed too that she didn’t eat much at dinner that evening or at breakfast that morning, that she hadn’t for days now. He was worried about her, even more so than he already had been.

“Sabrina?” She stopped several paces down the hall and turned to him. “Are you okay?” he wondered. She gave him a small, sad smile and shook her head.

“No,” she admitted. “But I will be. I always am. Eventually.”

He let her go, his worry going with her. He stayed in the doorway, watching her until she disappeared up the flight of stairs to the floor above him. He shut the door and turned back to find Henry looking at him curiously.

“A letter?” he asked.

“Seems that way,” Nick nodded. He placed it on the sideboard. “I’m going to need to finish that bourbon before I read it.” He settled back on the sofa and picked up his glass. “I’m worried about her, Henry, more so than I was. She’s not taking care of herself. She tends to do this when something is going wrong. She doesn’t sleep, her appetite falls off…”

“Perhaps she’ll sleep better after you read that letter,” Henry proposed.

“Perhaps,” Nick agreed. His stomach flipped at the idea of its contents. He wanted to think it would contain if not good news, a way forward, but he couldn’t allow himself to hope. The fall to disappointment would be too great.

He took his time finishing his bourbon and even convinced Henry to have a cup of tea with him before Henry finally told him to stop putting off reading whatever Sabrina had written him and went to bed. Finally, freshly showered and out of ways to avoid the call of whatever the envelop help, Nick settled on the edge of his bed, opened the flap, and removed several pieces of paper. He unfolded them and was met by Sabrina’s elegant script.

_Dear Nick,_

_There is – so much. I’d like to think that I would be able to get through all of this in person, but you and I don’t seem to be able to speak to one another without letting our feelings get the best of us. Henry suggested there were other ways to communicate and so I decided this was probably the best way say what I need to say to you._

_I like Henry, by the way. I know I haven’t acted like it. I didn’t want to like him. But he was kind to me when he shouldn’t have been, and he helped me make sense of everything I’ve been feeling where you’re concerned. I’m glad you have him. You deserve that._

_I don’t really know where to start, so I’ll just start with the reason I left your bed that night._

_I was terrified you would leave me._

_I felt so – loved. I don’t know if you still love me, although I think maybe you might. Or rather, it seems like it, sometimes. But in that moment, lying in your arms, that’s how I felt. Loved. Safe. Protected. Wanted. It was overwhelming and incredible, all at once. When you fell asleep, I laid there and let my tears fall. They were happy tears. But also scared tears._

_You’ve left me twice now._

_That first time, when you were free of the Dark Lord and hurting, I thought we would be together, finally, happy and free of Hell. I loved you, so much, and you pushed me away. I ultimately understood and it was the right thing to do, but in the moment, I cannot express to you how much it hurt, especially after everything we had been through to get to a place where the Dark Lord was no longer between us._

_We found our way back to one another though, didn’t we? You were still there, still constant, still fighting. You worked your way back into my heart and I gave you everything. Again, I thought we were finally going to be able to be together, especially in those few days once Blackwood and his Terrors were gone, Hell restored to Lilith, me alive and well. You pulled the rug out from under me that day at the mortuary when you turned up to tell me you were leaving. I still don’t understand it, Nick. I sort of do. I sort of see why you viewed yourself as a complication. But I was never given a chose. You just – left._

_The second time was worse. I had given you my virginity – which I have never, not for a moment, regretted – and as a foolish teenager, I thought that was it. You and I, forever, especially after I came back from death. But then you were gone, and I was alone and for days, it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. That night, in your bedroom, in your arms, I felt like I felt that first time we were together – like I was everything to you. But then I remembered what came later. For better or worse, I decided to leave your bed – maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much this time if I left first._

_It’s been fifty years since you left Greendale, but it still feels like yesterday in some ways. Seeing you at Harvey’s funeral… It all came back, in an instant. And then you were so kind to me, yet also so – you. You got my magic to come out of me, made me start to believe in myself again, that the life I wanted wasn’t out of reach. I don’t know that I ever stopped loving you, but you have made me certain of that in these last weeks._

_There’s nothing I can do about the fact that I married Harvey. I regret it now, but I didn’t at the time. He was there when you weren’t, and there were so many good things about him in those early years. I could have never predicted what we would become, what he would become. I’m ashamed of how I lived my life, how my aunts and cousins had to live because of me. I’m damned near losing my mind at the idea that the Sons of Angels are after the people I care about because of the man I married. Logic tells me it’s not my fault, but my heart tells me otherwise. I can’t stop that._

_The things you said to me in the sanctum hurt, Nick. In some cases, it was everything awful I have thought about myself. And then to hear you say you regretted getting involved with me… Maybe you meant it, maybe you didn’t, but do you know how often I’ve thought that? Those days when I would sit in my room trying to find a way to save you from Hell, I’d think ‘I bet Nick wishes he had never met me.’ Same in those days when you were struggling with the Dark Lord and then after, when you were running around Greendale cleaning up my messes and fighting Terrors even though we weren’t together. Hearing you say it in the sanctum wrecked me._

_I know I shouldn’t have taken off after the Sons like I did. But in those hours after our fight, I felt so useless, so hopeless. I needed to DO something. But then you came to rescue me because of course you did and once more, I was the source of your pain. I wanted, so desperately, to take care of you that night. I wanted to be the one to soothe your burns and hold you if you needed to be held. But you told me you needed space and so that’s what I’ve been trying to do – give you space. Except the space between us seems to only get wider._

_I’m falling apart, Nick. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. Yet I’m exhausted. I try to eat, but I get nauseous at the sight of food and give up. It’s not just the fighting with you. It’s the Sons and the loss of Mohan and feeling lonely as I sit in my quarters and wish I had someone to talk to about all of this. It’s the lack of direction, the yearning for things I want and don’t have… It’s all of it, and it’s just so much._

_There’s a part of me that believes everything will be okay, someday. It always is, isn’t it?_

_But everything also feels so vast and empty and hopeless. I’m so tired of feeling that way and yet I fear I’ll never feel hopeful again._

_I spend a lot of time thinking about what would have happened if I’d stayed that night. We would have had a hard conversation in the morning, but maybe we would be together. Maybe I would be in your arms right now instead of hunched over at my desk, wiping away my tears as I write this and not thinking about all of the “what ifs.” Perhaps the scariest of those “what ifs” is what if you never speak to me again? I left to avoid you leaving again, and yet I’ve lost you all the same._

_I also wonder about what would have happened if I had chosen differently. I thought, often, about chasing after you in those first weeks. I’ve thought of you frequently over the years, considered trying to find you. I even took out the locket you gave me on my seventeenth birthday and almost summoned you the night before my wedding. I had doubts even then and I wanted to see if you would try to stop me. I wonder constantly about what would have happened if I followed through with that summons._

_I didn’t though, and it’s yet another thing I can’t change._

_All I can do now is write this letter._

_I want you to know that I love you. I always have. I know I always will. If fifty years have gone by and I still feel like this, I don’t think that will change five hundred years from now. But I also need you to know that your words hurt, and that the idea of allowing myself to fall madly in love with you again only for you to leave once more paralyzes me with fear._

_I wouldn’t make it through you leaving me again._

_So, that’s it. That’s what I wanted to say to you. I love you. I’m mad at you. And I’m terrified of losing you. Do with this what you will, but I needed you to know how I feel and why I left your bed._

_I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused you._

_\- Sabrina_

Nick didn’t bother to stop the tears pouring down his cheeks as he read and re-read Sabrina’s letter. After a third pass through, he laid down on his bed, the letter still in his hands. His mind raced, but he was certain about two things.

Sabrina’s birthday was in a few hours.

And if given the chance, he would never leave her again.

**_***FLASHBACK***_ **

__Ambrose sighed heavily as he joined his aunts around the kitchen table._ _

__“How is she?” Hilda asked. She was already pouring him a cup of tea._ _

__“Near catatonic,” Ambrose answered. “I can’t tell if its grief or something else.” He shook his head. “It can’t be grief. She and I… We’ve talked. She never outright said it, but I got the impression she_ wanted _Harvey to pass.”__

__“She’s overwhelmed,” Zelda said. “Not by grief, but by fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of having to face what her life has been for these last several decades now that the mortal distraction is gone. I imagine there is guilt there, too._ _

__“What do we do?” Hilda wondered. “How do we help her?”_ _

__“We be there for her,” Ambrose advised. “We do whatever we can to support her.”_ _

__“Of course we’ll be there for her,” Zelda agreed. She pursed her lips, thinking. She made a decision on something she had been considering for months, something she had toyed around with many times over the years, had even attempted a time or twice without success. She had a feeling things would be different this time. “We’re in need of a new professor at the Academy, someone that can teach the older students more advanced magics.”_ _

__Ambrose raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Sabrina is upstairs in a state of shock and you’re discussing staffing?”_ _

__“Ambrose has a point,” Hilda added. “Really, Zelda, can’t a new professor wait?”_ _

__“This is important,” Zelda said in her tone that meant she was not to be argued with. “We have a hole to fill, the need of a certain caliber of magic.”_ _

__“I supposed the coven is growing,” Hilda said, oblivious to the plot unfolding right under her nose. “I imagine Sabrina will be moving into the Academy in the coming weeks. She hasn’t been using her magic, but perhaps if you offered her a position to teach…”_ _

__“I’m going to offer the position to Nicholas Scratch.”_ _

__Silence followed as Hilda stared._ _

__“Nicholas… Scratch…”_ _

__Ambrose said nothing. He saw plainly what Zelda was up to._ _

__“He’s one of the most powerful young warlocks this coven has ever seen,” Zelda said. “A talented conjurer and binder, in depth knowledge of demons, not to mention first-hand experience. Knows more about history than anyone I know except perhaps Ambrose. He’s been gone far too long. It’s high time he returns to this coven and takes his rightful place.”_ _

__“But… Sabrina…”_ _

__“Is a grown witch,” Zelda cut Hilda off. “She will understand his presence is for the good of this coven.”_ _

__“Zelda, their past…”_ _

__“I agree with Aunt Zelda.” Both aunts looked at Ambrose. He was as serious as Zelda. “Nicholas is an immensely talented warlock. If we can get him to agree to return to his coven, many will benefit.” He leveled his gaze on Zelda. “But you’ve asked him before, and he’s turned you down.”_ _

__“Yes, well, perhaps this is the time he will say yes.”_ _

__“Zelda, if you’re trying to bring him back her for Sabrina…” Hilda looked worried._ _

__“Did you know she nearly summoned Nicholas the night before her wedding?” Zelda asked. Hilda and Ambrose looked at each other in surprise. “She and I had a bit of a chat. I left her alone but peeked back in once she thought she was alone to see if she was as okay as she was pretending to be. She stood there with that locket he gave her and damn near summoned him. She wanted him to stop that wedding, but she put that locket back in her jewelry box and she married the mortal instead.”_ _

__“Bring him home,” Ambrose agreed after a beat of silence. He saw it too. Nicholas Scratch had always brought something out in Sabrina. If there were ever a time to see if he could bring it about once more, it was now._ _

__“I don’t know…” Hilda fretted. “Sabrina is fragile…”_ _

__“We don’t need to interfere,” Ambrose said. He didn’t reveal that he knew Nicholas Scratch returned to Greendale at least once a year, if only for a few moments. “We just need to get Nicholas home. The rest will take care of itself. It always does with the pair of them.”_ _

__“It’s settled then,” Zelda determined. “I’ll send the offer at first light.”_ _

__Ambrose nodded his agreement._ _

__He saw it, even if Hilda didn’t._ _

__Sabrina had been her own hero too many times. She had pulled herself, her family, her friends, and her coven out of the darkness time and time again. This time, she needed someone to offer them her hand and help her out of it._ _

__And Nicholas Scratch had never been able to resist offering Sabrina his hand._ _

**__***END FLASHBACK***_ _ **

Nick exhaled a long breath to prepare himself before he raised his fist and knocked.

He waited for what felt like eternity and wondered if Sabrina was asleep. It was just after the witching hour, after all. She certainly needed her rest, and as much as he wanted to talk to her, he wouldn’t deny her the sleep. He had thought about waiting until morning, but he had already waited fifty years. A few more hours should have felt like nothing, but they felt impossible instead. He decided to knock one more time.

The door opened a few moments later, but no one was there.

A meow drew his attention towards the ground.

Salem.

Salem meowed at him again, acting very part the cat and not at all communicating as a familiar, and turned to trot into the space, indicating that Nick should follow. He did so, wondering what he would find and a little bit curious about where she lived. He had yet to cross the threshold of her door. It felt a bit like an intrusion, to be in her space without her explicit permission, but he trusted Salem wouldn’t let him in if it wasn’t in Sabrina’s best interest.

The living area was empty. He noted the study off to the side was dark as well. His frown deepened as worry seeped in deeper that something was wrong. Salem meowed at him from the bedroom. The door was open, the light on. Nick cautiously moved towards it.

It, too, was empty.

He looked around, praying to Hecate she hadn’t taken off again. He was about to find a piece of parchment and use her ring to locate her once more when the bathroom door opened and Sabrina emerged wearing silk pajamas, her hair damp. The scent of wildflowers followed her. She was fiddling with her ring, her eyes down.

“Sabrina.”

She looked up in surprise. Nick stood there, in the middle of her bedroom, a large bouquet of wildflowers in hand. He looked nervous but resolute.

“Nick,” she breathed. “What are you…”

He held the flowers up and she fell silent.

“It’s never been your mom leaving you bouquets of wildflowers. It’s been me, Spellman. Every single year, without fail. Whenever I see or smell wildflowers, I think of you. And after all this time, you still smell like wildflowers.”

Sabrina’s eyes watered as the realization hit her. She had never believed the flowers came from her mother, but nothing else had made sense. She had come to the conclusion that it had to be Diana Spellman because who else would it be? Still, it seemed too good to be true that it had been Nick all along.

“Nick…”

“Let me?” he requested. She nodded. He placed the bouquet on the trunk at the end of her bed and took a few steps towards her. “I told you the night we slept together that I have chosen you every single day for the last fifty years, and I meant that. Even when I was with someone else, you were there and I could never quite give my heart away, not even to Henry, because you still have it. I am so sorry, Sabrina, for what I said the other day. I don’t regret getting involved with you. I have never regretted it. The only thing I regret is leaving in the first place.”

He reached for her hands and she let him take them.

“I was here, too, when Theo died. Roz as well. I stood in the back at their gravesides and watched you from afar, wished I could be the one to put my arms around you, hold you, comfort you. If I would have known how things were with you and Harvey? Sabrina, I would have never left.”

He let go of one of her hands to tuck her hair behind his ear.

“You’re right in saying I didn’t give you a choice the day I left. I truly thought I was doing what was best for you. I should have had a conversation with you. I should have told you how worried I was about you, how I wanted you to find yourself again. I should have told you that I wasn’t okay, that everything I’d been through was still weighing me down, right along with everything that had happened since. I should have talked to you, let you have a say in things. That will always be one of my biggest regrets. I blame myself for how unhappy you’ve been all these years…”

“It’s not your fault,” Sabrina shook her head. “Don’t think that, Nick…”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one,” he said. “My leaving opened the door for Harvey which led to years of heartache for you.” He squeezed the hand he still held. “I want to give you everything he wouldn’t, Spellman.” A tear rolled down Sabrina’s cheek. “I want to give you the marriage, the children…Whatever you want, I want to give it to you.” His hand cupped her cheek, and he brushed the tear away. “I want the chance to show you that I will never, ever, leave you again. I am so sorry that I ever left you.” He took another step closer. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you, the things I said. I was upset and angry and years upon years of emotions came pouring out of me. It doesn’t make it okay, but I have felt terrible ever since.”

“You said some hurtful things, Nick,” Sabrina managed.

“I know.” His hand held hers tighter. “I am so sorry, Sabrina. I’m sorry, too, that I took advantage of you in my room…”

“You didn’t,” Sabrina interrupted. “I wanted you as much you wanted me.”

“You were upset,” he clarified. “So was I. I shouldn’t have pinned you against the door. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I shouldn’t have led you to the bedroom and taken your clothes off. I shouldn’t have done any of those things, not before we had a real talk about things between us. But I did and I can’t regret it because my Hecate, I’ve missed you. But I still should have stopped things before they went so far.”

“I’m as guilty about what happened between us as you are,” Sabrina said. She fought the urge to lean into him and see if he put his arms around her. “I was upset and jealous and I know I have no right to be jealous, but I was. Having you here again… It’s been the best thing that’s happened to me in a really long time, Nick. The idea that you might have someone else, that you might not want me…”

“I have only ever wanted you,” Nick promised her. He pulled her a hair closer to him but still resisted pulling her into his arms. “Being back here, with you? Sabrina, all I’ve ever wanted was another chance with you. I know I’ve used up a few already, but here I am, fifty years later, seizing yet another one-percent chance that you will find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“You’ve been leaving flowers every year on my birthday,” she said in disbelief. “Nick…”

“Your birthday has always been a big deal. It was my small way of celebrating you, of letting you know that someone somewhere was thinking of you.” He held her hand still tighter. “The only important day in your life that I wasn’t here was the day you married Harvey. I couldn’t put myself through that.”

“I almost summoned you,” she told him, repeating what she had shared in her letter. “I wasn’t sure about marrying Harvey. I thought that was how it was supposed to be, me and him, what I had wanted so long ago, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was settling. You had been gone several years and I still hadn’t shaken you. I don’t know what I would have said if I’d gone through it. I don’t know if I would have taunted you about the fact that I was marrying Harvey or asked you to take me away…”

“I would have offered to take you away,” Nick interrupted. “I would have put it on the table to run away with me. I have no doubt that if you would have summoned me that night, I would have come, and I would have asked you not to marry him.”

Sabrina’s eyes watered.

“I didn’t do it though,” she managed.

“There’s a lot both of us didn’t do,” Nick offered. “But we got another chance, Sabrina. We can do it right this time.”

“I’m scared, Nick,” she admitted. “I’m scared to give you my heart again. You’ve left me twice…”

“I won’t leave again,” he promised her. “I will be here every single day, as long as you want me to be. I know, too, that I can stand here and promise you that I won’t leave, but you’re not going to believe it until you’ve woken up next to me for as many days as it takes for you to see that you’re stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere.” He looked insecure now. “Unless this isn’t what you want. Because I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you turned me away, not after all the hurt I’ve caused you.”

“It’s what I want,” Sabrina said with certainty. “I’m scared, Nick, but I’ve spent fifty years without you. I don’t want to waste any more time being apart.”

That was all Nick needed.

He closed the last of the distance between them and wrapped her in his arms. He held her to him, strong and reassuring.

“I love you, Spellman,” he said into her hair. The words came with a sense of relief. He was finally able to say them to her after holding them in his chest for decades. “Always have, always will.” She pulled away to look at him. Her eyes were still wet, but she smiled.

“I love you too, Nick,” she told him. “Always have, always will.”

He kissed her then, slow and careful, and she melted into him. She fisted his shirt and held him close. Just like their kiss at his door, this one woke something up in her, made her feel alive. His tongue ran along her lower lip, asking for entrance, and she granted it with a content sight.

She knew what she wanted.

She pulled away, took his hand, and led him to the bed. She sat down on the edge and looked him in his eyes, letting him see her desire. She saw his own reflecting back, but she also sensed his hesitation to cross a line.

“It’s okay,” she assured him.

He leaned in to kiss her and she took advantage to pull him to her and lay back on the bed. He came with her, his body settling over hers.

“I want you,” he assured her. “But I want to make sure we’re doing this right.” He smoothed back her hair. “The other night was the best night of my life in a long time and I most certainly want to repeat it, but if you have any doubts…”

“I want you to make love to me,” Sabrina said with certainty. She couldn’t explain it, but in the very deepest part of her, she knew she needed this. She needed the intimate connection with Nick, needed to use her body to show him how she felt, needed to feel the way he felt about her. “And then I want to sleep in your arms and wake up in your arms and know that this is real.”

“This is very real,” he assured her. He brushed his fingers along her cheek, looking at her in awe. He, too, felt the urge to connect, to be together in a way that would allow them the exchange of intimacy they each craved from the other. “I’m going to make love to you, Spellman, and I promise you, you will wake up in my arms in the morning.”

Clothes began to come off, their lips and hands all over each other. Sabrina moved so she was on top of him. She pinned his hands down and kissed him hard. He tried to free his hands so he could touch her, but she shook her head.

“No,” she said, showing him a glimpse of the confident woman he knew she still was underneath all the hurt she had suffered. “I want you to feel right now. Relax for me.” She kissed him again and she felt his body do as she requested.

She kept her hands in his as she moved along his neck. She remembered a place his liked just under his jaw. The way he flexed under her told her he still liked it. She kept moving, her lips along his jaw, his throat. She was intentional as she moved lower.

“Sabrina,” he sighed in satisfaction. When she got to the sensitive skin just below his bellybutton he hissed, his breath catching for a moment. He wanted to push her lower. He wanted to pull her lips back to his.

She made the decision before he could.

He cursed and fisted the quilt. His other hand twisted into her hair. He tried not to thrust into her mouth, but it just felt so damned good.

“Sabrina…” he groaned. “I’m gonna…” She didn’t stop her work and he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. When she sat up, Nick spent and panting, she looked so shy and beautiful that he had to pull her down to kiss her.

“Mmm,” she hummed when he pulled away. She worked her fingers through his hair and rested her forehead against his. “Was that okay?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.

“Incredible,” he assured her. His hands ran up and down her bare sides. “Hecate, I love you.”

“I love you,” she replied. She accepted his kiss as he artfully moved them so he was on top once more.

“Your turn,” he growled. “Same rules apply. I want you to relax.” He kissed her sweetly. “Just feel.”

He set Sabrina on fire. She felt every touch, every kiss. She cried out when his lips landed between her legs. She was unapologetic in her reaction, the way she felt it all.

“Trust me?” he asked a few minutes later as he hovered over her with no doubt that he himself was very ready once more.

“Entirely,” Sabrina assured him.

“Sit up then.” She did so without question. He moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “Okay, come here.” Sabrina was curious, but she went to him. He positioned her so she was kneeling over him, her knees barely on the bed, his body supporting most of her. She felt him pressing at her entrance and couldn’t help but rub against him. “When you’re ready.”

Sabrina brought her lips to his as she lowered herself onto him.

She understood.

In this position, sitting on his lap as she moved up and down and he thrusted into her, they were afforded both deep penetration and the intimacy of being close. She had a fleeting thought of wondering what other positions they could try before Nick thrusted harder and stole all of her concentration.

Afterward, they lay under Sabrina’s blankets, wrapped around each other, trading soft kisses and gentle touches.

“I liked that,” Sabrina admitted. Her sex life had been non-existent for a long time. Before that, it was always missionary or from behind, which she had preferred with Harvey as she had learned it was over faster and she could touch herself to make sure she got something out of it too. With Nick, it felt like a world of intimate possibilities had opened to her. “That position.”

Nick lazily dragged his lips across her cheek.

“I’m delirious and sated enough to say it without a filter – I have plans for you, Spellman. And those plans involve a lot of tangled limbs.”

“That sounds amazing,” Sabrina smiled. She snuggled closer and Nick was happy to pull her even closer. “I can’t believe you’ve been bringing me flowers all this time.”

“And I’ll bring you flowers every year for the rest of forever,” he promised her. He kissed her hair. “Happy birthday, Spellman.”

“It’s going to be hard to top this one,” she said.

“Challenge accepted,” Nick replied, making her chuckle. He rubbed small circles on her back as he uttered a spell to turn out the lights. “Go to sleep, babe. You’re not taking care of yourself and that ends now.”

“It’s been hard to sleep,” she confessed as warmth washed over her at being called ‘babe’ by him once more. “I’ve been exhausted, but I can’t close my eyes for more than a few hours.”

“It stops now,” he said again. “You do that when things get hard – stop sleeping, eating. Sleep now, and in the morning, we’ll have a good breakfast.” He was going to take care of her. She wasn’t alone anymore, nor was she going to be neglected by him.

“You’ll be here, right?” she asked as some of her insecurities resurfaced.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her. “Only Hecate herself will take me from you again – and she’s going to have to work really hard to pry me away from you before I allow it to happen.”

“I’m not going anywhere either,” she promised. “I’m so sorry, Nick…”

“It’s okay,” he hushed her. “I forgive you.” He wasn’t really sure what he was forgiving at this point, but it felt like she needed to her those words all the same. “I’m so sorry, Sabrina. For everything…”

“I forgive you,” she assured him. “I do, Nick. And I’m glad you came to my door tonight.”

“I should have never left your yard all those years ago,” he said. He brought her closer. “Your letter… Thank you for writing it, for bringing it to me. I’m sorry I made it so hard for you to say those things to me.”

“I owe Henry for suggesting there were other ways to communicate. If it weren’t for him, we’d probably still be actively avoiding each other.”

“Ambrose would have locked us in a room eventually,” Nick reasoned. “If not him, then Prudence.” His hand trailed up and down her back. “I meant it when I said I want to give you everything.”

“How about we start with you being here in the morning?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“I’ll be here,” he promised her again. “Sleep, Spellman. I’ll hold you all night, and wake you up with a good morning kiss before I escort you down for birthday pancakes.” He kissed her hair. “I love you, Spellman.”

“I love you, too,” Sabrina smiled as her eyes grew heavy. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She drifted off soon after, safe in Nick’s arms. Nick rested his head against hers and closed his own eyes.

He finally had Sabrina in his arms.

Where she had always belonged.

A place she would always be, as long as she wanted to be there, because only death would take him from her again.

Things weren’t exactly okay between them. It would take some time for them to work through all the years of hurt and anger, through fears of abandonment and fears of rejection. But they both knew they wanted to be together. They both knew they loved each other. They had just promised one another forever.

He would have Sabrina Spellman forever and a day, as long as she would allow him the pleasure.

For the first time in a very long time, he said a prayer of gratitude to Hecate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally. They're together. For good this time, and they both know it. Except those pesky witch hunters are still hanging around... 
> 
> Also, how about Zelda and her master plan? Well done, Aunt Zee. Well done. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this one!


	16. Call To Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.

Sabrina awoke slowly. Nick was there, just as he promised he would be, his arms wrapped around her, her back pressed into his chest. She smiled through her sleepy haze, remembering a few hours before. He was there, spooning her, making her feel warm and safe. It wasn’t a dream. She hummed in satisfaction. They were both still naked and she didn’t think there was a more perfect way to wake up.

“Morning, Spellman,” came his sleepy voice. His lips pressed into her shoulder.

“Morning.” She wiggled a bit, trying to get even closer to him. He furthered her goal by tightening his arms around her. She felt him then, his morning erection very present, and couldn’t help herself. She rubbed against him and he thrusted on instinct, moving through her folds once he felt how wet she was. She turned her head and captured his lips, sighing into their kiss as she continued to feel him bumping around between her legs.

“Can I?” he asked.

Sabrina answered by lifting her leg and draping it over Nick’s thigh, opening herself up to him. He positioned himself and pushed into her.

It was sweet and slow, both of them sleepy. Sabrina was a bit sore from the night before, but Nick inside of her soothed that ache. He didn’t reach deep in this position, spooned together, her held tightly in his arms, but it wasn’t about that. It was about intimacy, connection after so many years apart. Nick rubbed her to make sure she came, too, and she reached behind her to grip his thigh, encourage him.

Afterward, she turned in his arms so she could face him. His hair was in utter disarray and she was sure she looked similar. She didn’t care.

“You’re here,” she said with a hint of wonder.

“I’m here,” Nick confirmed. “And so are you.” He kissed her. “I meant what I said last night, Spellman. I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled at her. “Happy birthday, babe.”

“I always liked when you called me ‘babe,’” she admitted. “’Spellman,’ especially, but ‘babe’ was nice, too.”

“How about I just call you mine?” he asked. Sabrina beamed, but rolled her eyes playfully.

“I forgot how smooth you can be.” Nick chuckled and kissed her again.

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked.

“I slept so well,” she nodded. “Thanks to you.” It wasn’t the physical exchange of energy that had taken place the night before that had lulled her to sleep. It was the sense of utter relief to be in his arms again.

“How about some breakfast?” he continued, making it his responsibility to make sure she took better care of herself. “Hilda still make blueberry pancakes for your birthday?”

“She does,” Sabrina confirmed. She made no move to get out of bed, however. “Do we… Tell people? About us?”

“I was planning to walk into the dining hall holding your hand,” Nick said as his fingers trailed down her bare arm. “I suppose that should make things pretty obvious.”

“What about Henry?”

“What about him?” Nick countered.

“I feel like he should know first,” Sabrina said. “Given your past with him...”

“The fact that I didn’t come back last night probably clued him in.” Sabrina gave him a look. “I need to go to my quarters, shower, and change clothes before breakfast,” he amended. “I’ll tell him then.”

“Thank you, Sabrina nodded. “It feels like the right thing to do, no matter how supportive he is of us.” She crinkled her nose a bit. “I need to shower before breakfast too.”

“Weren’t you coming out of the shower when I got here last night?” Nick wondered.

“Yes, but I smell like sex now,” she informed him. He remembered then that he, too, had taken a shower before coming to Sabrina, and he was planning to take another for the very same reason. “That doesn’t feel like a good look to bring to the breakfast table, my birthday or not.”

“I suppose not,” he agreed. He leaned in for another kiss, then tossed the covers back, exposing them to the cool air that prompted them to leave their cocoon. Sabrina passed him the sweatpants he had on the night before and found her robe. “Meet me at the top of the stairs in a half hour?”

“Okay,” Sabrina agreed. She considered Nick as he pulled on his t-shirt. Doubt about their reconciliation tried to work its way into her mind. “So… We’re doing this?”

“We’re doing this,” Nick confirmed. He tugged the belt of her robe to bring her to him. “It’s you and me, Spellman.”

“It doesn’t seem real,” she admitted. “After so long…”

“It is very real,” Nick assured her. “I love you, Sabrina.”

“I love you, Nick.” She smiled up at him. “Always have, always will.”

“Always have, always will,” Nick echoed before pressing his lips to hers. “I’m here, Spellman. I’m with you. For as long as you will have me.”

“I plan to have you for a very long time,” she informed him.

“It’s really the only option,” Nick agreed with a smile.

Sabrina walked him to her door where they exchanged another kiss and a promise to see each other in a few minutes. Nick found Henry in an armchair with a textbook when he returned to his quarters. He looked Nick over.

“Things went well then?” he inquired with a hint of a smirk.

“They did,” Nick confirmed with a bashful grin. “We’re together.” He looked at Henry. “She wanted you to know before we all go down to breakfast. It seemed pretty important to her.”

“I’m glad,” Henry said, again with no trace of bitterness. “The two of you are finally with the right person – each other.”

“It doesn’t feel real,” Nick said, echoing what Sabrina had said earlier. While he had stood strong for her, he felt the same way. It was hard to believe that she was with him. “After all this time…”

“You two were always going to find each other again,” Henry said as his eyes resumed scanning the text. “Call me a hopeless romantic, but you were meant to be together.”

“It means a lot that you’re here, Henry,” Nick said sincerely. “That you’re so supportive.” Henry looked up again and gave him a genuine smile.

“That’s what friends are for,” he reminded him.

“You’re the best one I’ve got,” Nick replied. “Thank you, Henry. For being here, calling me on my shit, supporting Sabrina and I…”

“Can I be best man at your wedding?” he asked. “Isn’t that what the mortals call it?”

“That’s what the mortals call it,” Nick confirmed with a chuckle. “The job’s all yours. At least until Prudence gets wind, then you might have to fight her for the role.”

“I don’t know if I can take her,” Henry panned. “She’s kind of scary.” Nick chuckled. It felt good, to be there with Henry, to know that Sabrina was with him again, to be so hopeful for the future.

“I hope you like blueberry pancakes,” Nick said, changing the subject. “They’re Sabrina’s favorite and Hilda makes them for her birthday every year.”

“I can handle blueberry pancakes,” Henry agreed. He frowned at something in his text then. Nick noticed.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Henry nodded, eyes still on his book. “Something just caught my eye is all.” Nick was used to seeing Henry get sidetracked by something in a book – it was something they had in common, the ability to have a conversation while reading a complicated passage and never missing a beat – so he let it go. “You need a shower, Scratch. You smell like sex.” Nick chuckled.

“I’m heading in that direction,” he said. “I’m meeting Sabrina in a few minutes to go down to breakfast. Want to join us?”

“I’m actually going to stop by the sanctum first,” Henry said. He sounded distracted. “There’s something I want to check. I’ll meet you there.”

“Suit yourself, but don’t be late for breakfast. You’ll run the risk of going hungry. Those pancakes are legendary.”

He went into his bedroom and then the adjoining bathroom. He turned on the shower then went to the sink to brush his teeth. He took in his appearance, his messed up hair, the tired but happy expression on his face. He grinned as he spit toothpaste into the sink.

He finally got the girl.

He wasn’t going to let her go again. l

A half hour later, showered and dressed for a day in the classroom, Nick left his quarters to find Sabrina waiting for him looking fresh and, for the first time in a while he realized, truly happy.

“You clean up well,” she greeted.

“You always look beautiful, Spellman,” Nick replied. She was already in his arms. He was sure they would drive the others crazy with their shows of affection over the next several days, but he didn’t much care. He had spent fifty years not touching her. He was going to make up for lost time. “Although if I’m being honest, you were the most beautiful this morning.”

“I’ll say the same for you,” Sabrina said between kisses. She found herself pressed between him and the railing. “Should you be spotted by your students, making out with your girlfriend like this?”

“Let them say something. I’ll give another pop quiz and not feel bad about it.”

Sabrina laughed and it was a beautiful sound. He took her hand and led her downstairs. Prudence grinned like the cat that got the cream and Ambrose looked at them with wide eyes and an open jaw as they approached their table.

“About bloody time,” Ambrose announced.

“Here’s to hoping you’ll both be a little more tolerable now,” Prudence added.

“Go on, get it out,” Sabrina said as she and Nick joined them. “Let’s hear it.”

“Nothing to get out, just glad the two of you finally figured it out,” Ambrose said, and Sabrina could tell he meant it. Nick reached over and squeezed her thigh. She smiled at him.

“But if you’re going to be all lovey dovey with one another, we’re going to have to have a conversation,” Prudence commented. Nick smirked at her, then leaned in to kiss Sabrina.

“Ah, the pair of you worked things out!” Hilda had appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a big stack of pancakes. “That’s wonderful news!” She settled the pancakes in front of Sabrina. “Happy birthday, darling!” She winked. “Bet it’s going to be a good one.”

“Thank you, Auntie,” Sabrina smiled. “It’s already been a good one.”

“I bet it has,” Ambrose quipped. Nick shot him a warning look. Ambrose just smirked over his coffee cup.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or are the pair of you an item once more?” Zelda asked, gliding up to them in all her glory.

“Your eyes didn’t deceive you,” Sabrina told her. “We’re together.”

“As you should be,” Zelda nodded her approval. Her plan had worked, just like she knew it would. “Birthday breakfast, then?”

The aunts joined them at the table, a rarity. They were usually so busy with their responsibilities that they only had dinner together a few nights a week, at most. As she ate her breakfast, her appetite back for the first time in days, Sabrina realized she was truly happy. Everyone she loved was at the table. She had Nick. It was her birthday. Things really were changing for the better.

“Where’s Henry?” she asked Nick. “He should be here.”

She was far more open to the idea of Henry being around now that she had truly talked to him – and had Nick back.

“He said he was stopping by the sanctum to check something,” Nick told her. “He probably got wrapped up in whatever he was reading. Happens to the best of us.”

“No wonder you like him so much,” Sabrina said. “He’s exactly like you.”

“Not quite,” Nick shook his head. “He only likes you. I love you.”

“So smooth,” she grinned.

“So nauseating,” Prudence muttered. Just to annoy her, Nick pressed a kiss to Sabrina’s temple.

“Want some more coffee?” Nick asked Sabrina as he refilled his own from the carafe.

“Please,” Sabrina nodded.

“You’re eating this morning,” Nick observed as he poured coffee into her mug.

“It’s my birthday,” she reminded him. “And I’m a lot happier this morning than I have been in a while. It seems that comes with an increased appetite.”

“Nauseating,” Prudence said again. Sabrina’s sharp retort was cut off by the arrival of a winded Henry.

“Everything okay?” Nick asked, sensing something was, in fact, very wrong.

“I think I’ve found a way to penetrate the Sons of Angeles,” he breathed. He looked at Sabrina. “Think you can still call hellfire?”

* * *

“I don’t like this.”

“I know,” Henry tried as he watched Nick pace his office. “But it’s the best chance we’ve got…”

“There has to be another way,” Nick insisted.

“There might be,” Henry agreed. “But we don’t know what it is, and it could take ages to find it.”

“She’s not ready to do this,” Nick continued. “She only just started doing magic again.”

“She was only sixteen and had just signed the Book of the Beast the first time she called hellfire,” Henry reminded him. “She can do this.” Nick stopped and looked at Henry.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one that has all the faith in her?” he asked. “You barely know her.”

“I know she stood there in Zelda’s office an hour ago and said she could do it,” Henry told him. “I know you have told me the many things she’s capable of. She does this, the Sons are no match for the rest of us.”

“I don’t like it,” Nick said again. “I don’t like her putting herself at risk like this.”

“We’re all going to be at risk.” Nick and Henry looked to the door to find Sabrina standing there. Her eyes, however, were for Nick. “I was alone when I summoned hellfire the first time, Lilith notwithstanding. I won’t be alone this time.”

“Still…”

“Nick,” Sabrina cut him off with a shake of his head. “I’ve done a lot of hard, impossible things. I’m going to do this too.”

“I know,” Nick sighed. “But I still don’t like it.” He leaned on his desk, his anxiety over the approaching battle heavy.

“Zelda has secured the students in the library,” Sabrina told them. “Those of age were given the choice to go with us or stay. Most took the option to come along. Trevor was a bit difficult. He wanted to fight, but he’s not old enough. Ambrose bound him to the library in the end.”

“Then it’s time to go,” Nick realized.

“It is,” Sabrina confirmed. “I came to get the pair of you. Everyone is gathering in the entry.” Henry considered them.

“I’m going to head downstairs,” he decided, “give you two a moment.”

“We’ll be right down,” Sabrina told him with an appreciative nod. She went to Nick when he was gone. “You okay, Scratch? I know it’s been a long time, but I don’t remember you being this nervous before we faced down insert awful thing here.”

“I’ve always been nervous,” Nick confessed. “I was a young and dumb warlock then, though. It was all adrenaline and excitement. Now…” He took her hands. “Now it’s the woman I love, that I finally got back, putting her life on the line. I know this isn’t the first time you’ve done it, not by a long shot, but we’re older now and I have a far better understanding of what I stand to lose.”

“You think I’m not afraid?” she asked. “I’m risking my life, but everyone I love is risking theirs, too. Some of the kids I yell at in study hall are risking their lives. I’m terrified, Nick. But the Sons have to be stopped, and Henry has found a way to do it.”

“You yell at kids in study hall?” Nick asked with a hint of a smile.

“I do,” Sabrina nodded seriously. “But they still don’t call me ‘cranky Ms. Spellman.’”

“I might be in a better mood when all of this is done and I’m back in front of the classroom knowing I’ve got a girlfriend waiting for me when I’m done for the day.” Sabrina smiled and took one of her hands from his to run her hand through his curls.

“We’re going to be okay, Nick,” she promised him. “We’ve gone through too much and waited too long to be together for there to be any other option.” Her hand came to a rest over his heart. “Besides, you promised me you wouldn’t leave me again. And I’m not leaving you, either. There is no other option than for us to be okay.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Nick promised again. “We get to be happy now.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Let’s go take down some witch hunters, Spellman.”

They held hands as they joined the others gathered in the entrance. Nick squeezed her hand and felt her squeeze back.

“Everyone form a circle and join hands,” Zelda directed. Henry took Nick’s free hand, Ambrose Sabrina’s. Zelda looked across the circle to Sabrina. “You’re ready?”

“I am,” Sabrina nodded.

“Everyone is aware of the plan?” Zelda requested. There was a murmur of confirmation. “Very well then.” She took a big breath.

“Wait,” Nick cut her off as a massive flaw in their plan occurred to him. “We need protection from the back. We’re teleporting directly to the Kinkle residence to avoid the hunters watching the Academy. But they will come when the attack begins. We need to designate people to protect the rear.”

“Good thinking, Brother Scratch,” Zelda approved. She knew Nick wouldn’t take the responsibility, not when Sabrina was the one that needed to summon the very fire to protect them all. He would protect _her_. “Ambrose?”

“On it,” Ambrose nodded. He quickly designated his team. “Ready when you are.”

Zelda raised her hands and undone the enchantments that kept them from teleporting out of the Academy. In a snap, their group was aligned along the edge of the woods by the Kinkle house. Nick squeezed Sabrina’s hand once more. She took a deep breath, returned the squeeze, and released it. She began to chant.

Around her, her coven began to throw up their own enchantments and protections. Even as the Sons of Angels begin to emerge with their weapons raised, she kept chanting.

Nothing happened.

She looked to Nick in panic.

“It’s not working!”

“Try again,” he said in a steady voice. “You can do this, Sabrina.”

She nodded, trying to take some of his confidence in her to heart, and began again.

Still, nothing happened.

She felt panic starting to brew as the Sons attack began. Around her, witches and warlocks were dodging arrows and bullets. The Sons were advancing. The shield Nick had conjured to protect her deflected an arrow aimed for her, another aimed for him.

“Sabrina!” Zelda bellowed. “Now!”

It hit Sabrina like a ton of lead.

“I can’t,” she shook her head.

“Sabrina…” Even as he tried to talk to her, Nick sent a spell flying at a witch hunter and recast the shield around them. “You can…”

“No, Nick, listen to me, I can’t,” she shook her head frantically. “Hellfire came from Hell. I denounced Hell. I am no longer of Hell!”

Nick realized the fundamental flaw in their plan then as well.

“Oh no…”

He chanced a glance around.

It was chaos.

There were spells and weapons zigzagging around them. There was no retreating. The coven was too scattered about, too far engaged in battle, to be called back safely.

“Nick! Sabrina!” Henry appeared, panting from his own battle with a now deceased witch hunter. “What’s taking so long?”

“She can’t summon hellfire,” Nick informed him. “She’s not of Hell. Not anymore. None of us in this coven are.” Henry’s eyes widened as understanding dawned on him.

“Oh my… I didn’t think…”

“Clearly,” Nick snapped. Another spell flew at them. Sabrina was quick to deflect it. “We can’t stand here. We’re sitting ducks.”

“I’m sorry,” Henry tried. “It never occurred to me…” He wasn’t familiar with their religion, only knew a little about the Order of Hecate from Nick. He himself worshipped Lilith.

“We’ve got no choice but to full on fight now,” Nick said. He looked to Sabrina. “Is your magic ready for this?” That was his fear, that Sabrina was still getting back into the habit of calling upon her deep well of magic and wasn’t prepared to fight with it. “If not…”

“Everyone I love is here,” she reminded him with no room for argument. “I will do whatever it takes.” Her eyes got big as the answer occurred to her. “Hecate.”

“What?” Nick asked, searching for whatever had caused her to curse. Henry deflected another arrow.

“No, Hecate,” Sabrina said again. “She has torches. Torches of fire.”

Nick understood.

“You want to call upon Hecate’s flames.”

“It can’t hurt to try,” Sabrina said. “It will be more powerful – and more likely to work – if there are more of us… Women… Where are my aunts?” She spied Zelda just as she obliviated a witch hunter. Hilda was nearby, attempting to tend to a wounded coven member. “It’s our only chance. There are more witch hunters than I anticipated.”

Nick nodded, knowing she was right. There were far more witch hunters than any of them had thought there would be.

“Okay,” he agreed. “But please, Sabrina, be careful…”

“I will,” she promised. “You have to be, too.” She took just enough time to chastely kiss his lips before she was gone, a blur of white blonde in the dreary late evening.

“She’ll be okay,” Henry offered.

“She better be,” Nick said, annoyed at him for his idea of hellfire and for putting Sabrina on the frontline. He was also mad at himself. He should have made that connection. After everything they had gone through all those years ago, he should have known Sabrina would never be able to call hellfire now. “We can’t stand around here and wait for something to happen. Let’s try to take out as many of these Sons as we can – and protect the Spellmans at all costs.’

Nick made to move into battle, but Henry stopped him.

“You promised her you wouldn’t leave her again,” he reminded Nick. “So don’t you dare do anything stupid.”

“I’m not going to leave her,” he told Henry. “But I’m not going to let her leave me, either.”

With that, he stepped into battle, his trajectory set for where the three Spellman women had gathered in a circle and were calling upon the flames of Hecate.

Sabrina held her aunts’ hands tightly, chanting, hoping against hope that this would work, that the power and devotion of her and her aunts would inspire Hecate to help them. Around them, the battle raged. The air around them was a cacophony of cracks of gunfire, witches howling in pain as they were scalded with Holy Water.

She felt it in her toes first, the rise of power, of flame.

“Keep going,” Zelda urged her sister and niece. “Hecate is near.”

The buzz of power rose, through her legs, her waist, up her neck and through the crow of her head. With a crack of thunder and a brilliant streak of lightning, purple flames erupted around them.

“Drive them into the flames!” Sabrina called out to anyone who could hear her.

Nick heard her.

“Into the flames!” he directed those around him. He heard Henry and a voice that sounded like Ambrose doing the same. A Son came at him, his bow raised. Nick was quick to cast a spell that lifted the Son off his feet. With a flick of his wrist, the Son’s body flew through the air and into the flames, his arrow spiraling into the night without a target as he screams of agony died into nothingness. He kept his path set for the Spellmans.

“We’re winning,” Hilda reported. While Sabrina and Zelda’s backs were largely to the chaos, she had a full view of it. “Nearly there now!”

“It’s her! The witch that married the mortal!”

Nick searched for the voice that he knew meant harm to Sabrina. His blood ran cold. There, in the midst of battle, stood a man in a white robe with a red cape.

Cardinal Gabriel.

“Kill the white haired witch!” he ordered anyone who would listen “If only one more dies, make it her!”

Fury flew into Nick. He charged the man, ready to curse him every way he could think of. He didn’t see the witch hunter coming for him, but Henry did.

“Nick!”

Henry dove, abandoning all magic. His stocky body collided with Nick. Both of them fell to the ground. Henry cried out in pain as an arrow meant for Nick stuck into his side.

“Henry!”

Nick used the same spell from moments ago to throw a charging witch hunter into the purple flames. The Spellmans were still chanting.

“Nick…” Henry’s breath was already short. “Nick…”

“You’re going to be okay,” he promised Henry as he assessed the injury. The arrow had gone deep, but if he could get Henry back to the Academy, he might be able to save him. “You’re going to be fine…” Henry shook his head.

“No,” he said with a half-smile. He could feel the life slowly leaking from him. “I’m not.”

“Yes,” Nick insisted. “You are.”

Over Nick’s shoulder, Henry saw a Son charging for Sabrina at Gabriel’s command.

“Sabrina!” he choked out. Nick looked.

Everything that happened next felt like it played out in slow motion. Nick hit the witch hunter with a curse so strong it immediately caused his body to turn in on itself and morph into a grotesque semblance of existence as he was devoured by his own flesh. He had just a moment to register Gabriel raise a silver gun, aimed squarely in the center of Sabrina’s shoulders.

“No!” he roared.

Like Henry, he threw his own body forward, even as he bellowed a curse. Sabrina’s voice, still chanting, rose clearer than the rest, his beacon to keep moving. The curse missed Gabriel but hit a witch hunter as Gabriel fired his pistol. Nick brought Sabrina to the ground just the silver bullet, laced with holy water that wouldn’t affect Sabrina and was yet deadly to her all the same, whizzed through the air.

He cried out in pain as it struck his right shoulder, but registered Sabrina, safe underneath him.

“Nick!”

She tried to fight her way out from under him, but his held his position, even as his arm burned enough to blind him. He saw Ambrose curse a Son aiming for Hilda and sent his own spell after another prowling their way. There were very few of them left now, the coven, while wounded, outnumbering them. Zelda spun to face Gabriel.

“Not my coven!” she bellowed as she raised her hands. “Not my niece!”

It was powerful magic that flowed from her fingertips. Gabriel was ripped apart, limb from limb, his cries filling the space around them.

With his demise, it was near over.

Ambrose and Prudence led the work to corral the remaining few Sons into the fire. Their cries of pain filled the space, then faded away.

“Nick!”

Sabrina pushed against him and Nick remembered himself.

“It’s over,” he said as he moved to free her. His arm felt like it might fall off. “You’re safe.”

“Your arm…”

“I’ll be fine.” He quickly looked her over. She was bleeding from a deep cut above her eyebrow, and she was filthy dirty, but she appeared to be okay. “Henry…” He scrambled the several yards to where Henry still lay. The warlock was fading fast. “It’s over,” he said again as he placed a gentle hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Let’s get you back to the Academy…”

“No,” Henry weakly shook his head. “It’s too late for me, Nick.”

“No,” Nick insisted. “It’s not. I can…”

“Nick,” Henry cut him off with a tired smile. “It’s too late.”

“Henry?” Sabrina appeared next to Nick. Her heart dropped into her stomach. She didn’t know a lot about anatomy, but she knew the holy water-laced arrow had pieced him in a way that likely had struck several vital organs. Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Henry…”

Henry turned his blue eyes to her.

“Sabrina.” He managed to lift his hand to reach for hers. She took it. “I’m so glad I got to meet you…”

“We’re going to get you back to the Academy,” Sabrina said, not willing to give up just yet. “We’re going to take care of you. Nick… Hilda…”

Henry’s chuckle was short and painful.

“Just like Nick,” he said. “Unwilling to accept facts.”

“You’re not going to die,” Nick said, even as reality began to seep into his thoughts of saving Henry. “I won’t allow it.”

“I’m as good as dead,” Henry said with a sense of peace. “I had a good three hundred and ten years.” He smiled at Nick. “I’m glad I met you, too, Nicholas.” Sabrina moved Henry’s hand to Nick’s so he could tell him goodbye. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You promised her you wouldn’t leave,” he said to Nick. “I had to make sure you kept that promise.”

“I’m sorry, Henry,” Nick shook his head. “Your life for mine…”

“You’ve got a long life to live, Nick,” Henry said as he faded away. “You and Sabrina. You’re going to finally be truly happy. That’s all I ever wanted for you – for you to be happy – and I’m glad I got to see it before I left this realm.”

“Henry…” Nick choked.

Sabrina could only sit by their side, one hand on Nick’s back, the other on Henry’s arm.

“Thank you, Henry,” she breathed. “For coming here, for helping us, for loving Nick when he needed someone…”

“Love him well,” Henry requested. It was his dying request. “Make him happy.”

He closed his eyes.

He was gone.

Sabrina held Nick while he sobbed, her own tears pouring. Around them, the coven members tended to the many injured and collected those that had lost their lives, the count low but still too many. Selfishly aware that her family and Nick were okay, she left them to it, her full attention on the warlock who needed her.

“He died to save me,” Nick cried into her neck.

“I know,” Sabrina nodded. And Nick had been shot to save her. It was a twisted full circle moment as she held the only man she had ever truly loved, the body of the only other person he had even tried to love by them. “I know.” She kissed his hair and held him tighter.

“Oh no…” Ambrose stood there, Prudence at his side, both taking in Henry’s body. Sabrina could only look at them with heartbroken eyes. Prudence covered her mouth with her hand and leaned into Ambrose for comfort. Sabrina brought her attention back to Nick, noted his shoulder that was openly bleeding and blistering.

“We have to get you back to the Academy,” she said to him. “We need to treat your shoulder before it gets worse.”

“Henry…,” Nick choked.

“I’ll bring him,” Ambrose stepped forward. “We’ll take care of him. Let Sabrina take care of you, Nicholas.”

Sabrina teleported them back to the Academy before Nick could protest further. Hilda was already there, treating the entry as a makeshift triage.

“Hilda, his shoulder,” Sabrina called out. “He was shot.”

“Let’s have a look,” Hilda bustled over. She assessed quickly. “I need to get the bullet out. Shouldn’t be too much lasting damage, but as long as that bullet is there…”

Sabrina tried to let go of Nick so Hilda could work, but he gripped her tighter.

“Please, don’t leave,” he whimpered in a broken voice so unlike him.

“I won’t,” she promised, thinking of her own fears of losing him. “I’ll stay right here.” She held him to her even as Hilda worked to remove the bullet with a pair of long tweezers. “I’ll always be right here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry. I didn't want to do that to Henry - or Nick - but I had to. It was even sadder when I knew how much you all liked him. 
> 
> Two more chapters left. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of this one. ❤️


	17. Endings Are Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little sad... Until it's happy.

Sabrina couldn’t sit still.

She had cleaned everything in Nick’s quarters the mortal way, except the guest room where Henry’s things still were. She couldn’t bring herself to enter the space and didn’t know if Nick would want her to, so she let it be for now. She had cried fresh tears as she collected the empty mug of tea left by the chair he had been sitting in that morning and closed the textbook he had left open on the coffee table, his place about hellfire marked. It wasn’t fair, that he had lost his life, given it up so Nick could live.

And yet, she couldn’t tamper down the gratitude.

As much as losing him hurt – and she knew her pain was only a fraction compared to what Nick was feeling – she couldn’t help but be thankful it was him and not Nick. She wouldn’t have been able to stand losing Nick. She thought Henry knew that. But more than that, she thought Henry would have sacrificed himself to save Nick even if she hadn’t been in the picture.

A soft tap sounded at the door. She went to it and cracked it open. It was Ambrose. She opened it all the way to let him in.

“How is he?” he asked in a low voice.

“Asleep,” Sabrina answered. “He was in a lot of pain earlier. Not to mention heartbroken over Henry. I couldn’t stand to see him hurting like he was, so I slipped him some more of Hilda’s sleeping draught when he took his pain potion.”

“His shoulder is going to be okay?” Ambrose questioned as he took a seat on the couch. Sabrina joined him.

“It’s going to take a few days, but it should be. The bullet did a fair amount of damage and the holy water did even more. Hilda said that’s why he’s in so much pain – a mortal would have needed major surgery to repair the damage.”

“I guess a few days of healing is better than the weeks a mortal would endure,” Ambrose mused.

“Truly,” Sabrina agreed. “How is everyone else?”

“Those injured are all making decent recoveries. A couple of them will forever have reminders of battle, but Hilda patched everyone up well enough. Zelda burned down the Kinkle place. I know you technically own it now, but I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Not at all,” Sabrina agreed. “I want to blow up the mines as well. I’ve been thinking about it and feels like the mines are the last true link to my old life, to all of our old lives, if you think about it. I know it will cost people their jobs, but there is insurance to take care of them for a while, and it saves me the hassle of trying to figure out how to ‘pass it down’ in a few years when widow Spellman should supposedly die.”

“Happy to help with that task,” Ambrose said. “Those mines hold nothing good.”

“We’ll wait for Nick to feel up to it,” she decided. “It feels like something he would want to be a part of.”

“I agree,” Ambrose nodded. Nick had just as much reason as anyone to want to see the midns gone. “How are you feeling otherwise? You may have escaped major injury, but you still went through a lot. Heaven, the last fifty years have been a lot, all things considered.”

“I’m – okay,” Sabrina offered. “Not great, not terrible, but okay. I feel like I’m finally moving past everything with my marriage and the coven is safe. Things with Nick and I are so new and I know us well enough to know it’s going to take time before he and I are truly on a solid foundation again, but being with him again is everything I ever wanted.

“That warlock loves you, Sabrina,” Ambrose stated. “I know the pair of you have a rocky past, but he loves you.”

“I know he does,” Sabrina said with a hint of a genuine smile. “I love him too, Ambrose. So very much.” She picked up a throw pillow that she was certain Nick had no part in adding to his décor and hugged it to her. She hoped to help him personalize his space a little more now that they were together. She wanted it to feel more like his home and less like he was just passing through. “I hate that Henry lost his life to protect Nick’s, but I’m so very grateful that I still have him.”

“I imagine Nicholas feels similar,” Ambrose said. “Be patient with him, Sabrina. You know from experience that he doesn’t always handle hard things well.”

“He tried to kill himself when I was dead,” she chanced.

“He did,” Ambrose said gravely. “He wasn’t okay during those couple of days it took Hecate to raise you. Just be there for him.”

“He’s going to be hard pressed to shake me,” Sabrina assured him. “Want some tea or something?”

“No, I should be getting back to work,” he said as he pushed himself to stand. “I just wanted to check in. Let Nicholas know I stopped by?”

“I will,” she nodded. She walked Ambrose to the door, then went to check on Nick for the countless time. He was still asleep and her inability to sit still crept back in now that she was alone once more. She quietly collected what laundry she could find and was nearly out the door with it when she heard his groggy voice.

“Sabrina?”

“Hey you.” She dropped the laundry outside his bedroom door and returned to him. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m walking through a thick fog,” he admitted as he struggled to sit upright.

“Can I do anything?” She perched by his side and tried not to look at his heavily bandaged shoulder. “Do you need anything?”

“Just sit with me for a while?” he requested. He didn’t try to hide how tired he was. How sad and conflicted he was.

“I can absolutely do that.” She moved so she was sitting beside him in bed. He laced his fingers through hers and leaned his head on her shoulder. She kissed his hair. “I love you, Scratch.”

“I love you,” he replied. “I love you so much, Sabrina.” He squeezed her hand tighter. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sabrina willing to give him whatever he needed, Nick simply needing her.

“I kept waiting for him to come back,” he admitted when he broke the silence. “It took a while to accept he wasn’t.”

“It was so sudden,” Sabrina offered. “None of us were ready to accept it.”

“I lost you so many times,” Nick continued. “There was the angel attack, and then I sacrificed myself to Hell. We broke up, you died. Really died, Sabrina. For two whole days I didn’t have you in this realm. Then I left…” He paused and took a shaky breath. “I guess I just thought, maybe, Henry would come back to life too.”

A single tear rolled down Sabrina’s cheek.

“I’m so sorry for everything I put you through,” she told him. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but I really put you through it these last fifty plus years.” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m so grateful you had Henry for at least a few of those years.”

“Let’s be done apologizing about the past,” Nick suggested. He didn’t want to live in the past anymore. He had spent most of the last fifty years revisiting it.

“Deal,” Sabrina nodded. Nick lulled against her. She refrained from putting her arm around him so as not to jostle his shoulder, but she stayed close, his hand held between both of hers. “Want to tell me about Henry?” she chanced.

“You don’t want to hear about Henry and I…”

“I do,” she insisted. She meant it. She didn’t get to know Henry very long, but she liked him once she allowed herself to like him, and most importantly, he was important to Nick. “Tell me how you met?”

“At a bar,” Nick answered with a sense of nostalgia.

“Where all great love stories start,” Sabrina quipped in an attempt to lighten his mood.

“Not ours,” he said. “You and I started in the choir room just downstairs when you sang like the angel we would later find out you are.”

“A fallen angel,” Sabrina corrected.

“An angel all the same,” Nick replied. He turned his head to kiss Sabrina’s shoulder. “I met Henry at a bar. I was wandering through Germany, no real destination in mind at the time. I hit on him, intended for it to be a one-night thing. We went back to his place, he poured me a drink, we started talking and… Well, I tried. For three years, I tried to love him.”

“I think you did love him,” Sabrina said. “Maybe not in the way you love me, but you loved him. That’s okay, Nick. It’s okay that you loved someone else.”

“I feel guilty,” Nick admitted. “I tried to love him the way he wanted me to, but I couldn’t, Sabrina. I led hm on for a long time.”

“I don’t think Henry thought that…”

“He didn’t,” Nick agreed. “But it feels so wrong, that he lost his life, that he sacrificed himself for me when I couldn’t give him what he deserved.”

Sabrina chose her next words carefully.

“We all do things for love that don’t make sense to anyone else,” she started. “So many of my actions have been driven in the name of love for you, for my family. I stayed married to Harvey for decades because I did love him at one point. Not like I love you, but I did love him. We can love many people, all in different ways. I love you I in a way I could never love another. You loved Henry in a way that’s different from how you love me. He knew you cared about him, Nick. I’m sure of that.”

“He was a good man,” Nick said.

“He was,” Sabrina agreed. “I wish I would have gotten to know him better.”

“He liked you,” Nick assured her. “He was glad we worked things out.”

“Talking to him in the sanctum was exactly what I needed. He knew what to say, how to say it.”

“That was Henry,” Nick said with a sad smile. “His body has been taken care of?”

“Ambrose saw to it personally,” Sabrina confirmed. “Zelda contacted his parents. They want to bury him in the family plot in Scotland in a few days.”

“You’ll go with me?” Nick requested. “I don’t think I can do it alone.”

“Of course I’m going with you,” Sabrina said. “We all are, Nick. Me, my aunts, Ambrose, Prudence. We’re all going. We didn’t know Henry long, but he made a huge impact on us. And we all care about you. We want to be there for both of you.”

They lapsed into silence again, taking comfort from one another. After a while, Nick could no longer ignore the need to use the bathroom, nor how hungry he had become.

“At the risk of milking this for all its worth, would you be able to scrounge up something for me to eat?” he asked. “Nothing heavy. I don’t think I could handle it. But I need to eat something.”

“Of course,” Sabrina agreed. “Hilda made chicken noodle soup for dinner last night, thought it would be hearty for the coven after everything we’ve been through. How does that sound?”

“Like something I could eat,” he said.

“I’ll be right back.” She clambered out of bed and turned to kiss him before she left, only to find him maneuvering out of bed himself. “Where do you think you’re going, Scratch?”

“An injured shoulder isn’t going to keep me from needing to pee, Spellman,” he stated. Sabrina gave him a look but helped him to his feet. “Besides, I can walk fine. It’s my shoulder that’s not working all too well right now.”

“You’ll be good as new in a few days,” she promised him. She put a hand on his cheek and leaned in to kiss his lips. “I’ll be right back.”

“I might try to take a shower…”

“Don’t you dare,” Sabrina cut him off. “Hilda said you can’t get that wound wet while it’s still healing.”

“Sabrina, I feel disgusting…”

“How about after you eat, I’ll draw you a bath?” she suggested. “I’ll wrap your shoulder in plastic wrap. You can get clean and still keep that shoulder dry.”

“Maybe get in the tub with me?” Nick asked with a hopeful note.

“We’ll talk about that when it’s time,” she said. “I’ll be back in a few.” She kissed him again and this time she left the room, pausing to snag his laundry on the way out. Once Nick relieved himself, he stood at the sink and took in his reflection.

He had a couple of days of stubble on his face and dark bags under his swollen eyes despite how long he had been asleep. He was heartbroken in the most complete way, and yet there was still a sense of peace. They were out of danger and he had Sabrina. With any luck, he would get to spend his life with her. He was only seventy, had centuries to go, Hecate willing. If he got to spend all of those days with Sabrina, it would be worth the first seventy years of ups and downs, of heartbreak and loss.

He winced a bit as he moved to wash his hands. His stomach growled, loud and demanding. He moved to go back to the bed, but decided he was over lying around and changed course to the living room. He settled on the couch just as Sabrina returned with his food.

“That was quick,” he commented.

“Turns out, things are a lot easier with magic,” Sabrina said. “I heated this up as I walked up the stairs.” She settled the tray over his lap.

“Nothing for you?” Nick asked.

“It’s well after lunch,” she reminded him. “Hilda brought me something to eat earlier.” She tucked her legs under her to watch him eat. “Just so you know, I’m staying here for the foreseeable future.”

“It’s the only option on the table,” Nick said. “Other than me coming to your quarters.”

She sat quietly while he ate and then moved his empty dishes aside.

“How about that bath?” she asked.

“Maybe in a few minutes?” he suggested. “I’m kind of comfortable.” And in truth, he just didn’t feel up to moving. It wasn’t his arm that hurt, but his heart. “Why don’t you find something on TV for us to watch? Anything’s fine.”

Sabrina didn’t argue with him, content to let him call the shots. She curled into his side and he draped his good arm around her. She chose a documentary on castles in Europe, and he knew that was for his benefit, but he didn’t protest. He just wanted to sit on the couch with his girlfriend, away from the rest of the world.

He pressed a kiss to her hair and pulled her closer.

He had lost Henry. But he had Sabrina. It didn’t even things out or make Henry’s loss hurt any less, but it did give him courage that he would be okay. He was where he was supposed to be, with who he was supposed to be with.

Things would be okay.

* * *

Sabrina felt bone-weary as she made her way into her aunts’ quarters. She found them in their kitchen, a smaller-scaled version of one three floors below. Zelda, Hilda, and Ambrose were seated around the kitchen table.

“Hi, love,” Hilda greeted. “I was just telling the others I planned to bring you and Nicholas some leftovers in a bit.”

“Thank you, Hilda,” Sabrina said through a tired smile. Anything edible sounded horrible to her right then, but she hoped maybe Nick would eat.

“How is he?” Ambrose wondered. He had been diligent about checking in on both of them over the last few days.

“Sad,” Sabrina answered as she took the last remaining chair at the table. “Physically, he’s doing a lot better. The swelling is nearly gone, and his blisters have scabbed over. He can move his arm a lot more today than yesterday, even. But he’s still heartbroken.”

“It was a beautiful service,” Zelda offered.

“It was,” Sabrina agreed.

They had accompanied Nick to Scotland where Henry’s family had laid him to rest earlier that day She had stayed by Nick’s side, his hand never leaving hers, even when she tried to give him a private moment with both Henry’s body and Henry’s mother. He had held on tight though, and she hadn’t resisted.

It had been a week since the Sons of Angels battle.

In some ways, normalcy had returned. With the Sons and Gabriel gone, Zelda had lifted restrictions and the students had resumed much of their usual activities, although a somber mood still echoed through the building. In total, they had lost ten coven members, counting Henry and including three students and the grief was still heavy. But in other ways, things would never be normal again.

“Where’s Prudence?” Sabrina wondered.

“Gone to fetch the rest of her things,” Ambrose reported. “She’s going to return to the coven full time now.”

“Good,” Sabrina approved. She thought of Dorcas, long gone, of Agatha off on her own adventures who knew where. It was bizarre, that the group of people she had grown up with had now dwindled down to her family, Nick, and Prudence as the years passed them by. She took a big breath. With her family gathered, now was a good time to say what had been on her heart for a while. “Aunties, Ambrose?”

“Yes, dove?” Hilda asked.

“I want to apologize,” she began. “For the last fifty years, for asking so much of all of you in these last several in particular. I know I made a lot of mistakes, but you three were always there for me, even when you shouldn’t have been, even when I wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“No need to apologize,” Ambrose shook his head. “You’re our family, my only cousin. This is what we do.’

“Still,” Sabrina continued, “I had you all wearing glamours and taking care of a mortal that ultimately sold us out, cost us so many lives…”

“We’ve all made our mistakes,” Zelda said. “We learn from them and we move on.” She gave Sabrina a rare smile. “I daresay that thing have ultimately worked themselves out. You have Nicholas now.”

“I do,” Sabrina said with a smile. “I still can’t believe it was always him with the wildflowers.”

“He’s loved you nearly his entire life,” Hilda reminded her. “And you him. I know he’s sad now, but I can tell it means everything to him that you are by his side.”

“We’ve spent the last fifty years missing one another,” Sabrina said. “It feels surreal to be together again.”

“Judging by your screams of pleasure last night, I’d say it must,” Zelda quipped. Sabrina’s eyes widened in horror. Nick had taken her in his living room the night before, her bent over his couch, him gripping her hips and giving her the rough sex they both needed in the moment to feel anything else aside from grief. She wouldn’t deny it – it had felt damned good and had been their first time since the slow and sweet session the morning of her birthday. She just wished her aunt hadn’t overheard it. “I was walking the halls to make sure there weren’t any students breaking curfew. I put a soundproofing charm around Nicholas’ door. You’re welcome.”

Sabrina wanted to die of embarrassment. Ambrose chuckled over his coffee.

“I’m sixty-eight years old,” she said. “What Nick and I do…”

“Is none of our business,” Zelda finished. “But you might want to make that soundproofing charm a more permanent thing.”

“Want me to fix you a plate?” Hilda asked, eager to change the subject away from her niece’s sex life. “You can eat here, and then take Nicholas a plate…”

“I’ll take mine to go as well,” Sabrina said. “I want to get back to Nick.”

It took several more minutes for her to get away from her aunts, but she made her way back to the floor below and to Nick’s quarters. She found him lying on the couch, eyes on the ceiling.

“Hi,” she greeted softly.

“Hey,” he muttered, lifting his head to see Sabrina.

“Hilda sent us food,” she continued. “Roasted chicken and vegetables and cherry pie for dessert.” She left it on his makeshift bar. He had sat up by the time she made her way to him. “How are you feeling?”

“Sad,” he admitted. “Relieved the funeral is over. Ready to move on.” He ran a hand down his exhausted face. “What about you? Still feeling off?”

Her exhaustion had been heavy all week as she tended to Nick, but she had also been nauseous more often than not and had even thrown up a few times, a fact she had tried to hide from Nick so as not to add to his stress level, but he had caught her and fretted over her ever since. They made quite the pair, each fussing over the other.

“I feel okay,” she said. Today had been the first day all week she had felt moderately human, despite the funeral. She decided now was a good time to confide in Nick. “I have a feeling I’m going to feel ‘off’ for a while though.”

Nick frowned.

“Why?” he wondered. “Is something wrong? Are you sick? I’m a doctor… Technically, at least…”

“Maybe not as brilliant of a doctor as I thought you were,” Sabrina mused as she took his hand. “In hindsight, we’ve both been pretty oblivious to the obvious.” She placed his hand over her abdomen. Nick looked at her as understanding started to dawn on him. “Turns out, morning sickness lasts all damned day and into the night, too.”

“You’re pregnant,” Nick said in wonder. Sabrina nodded, eyes on him, watching for his reaction. While she was pretty sure he would be happy, she recognized that their relationship was still new, still tender. They had been through a lot, had only truly been together for a week now. The timing wasn’t ideal for so many reasons. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to be anything other than ecstatic. “You’re having a baby.”

“I am,” Sabrina confirmed. She watched as Nick’s eyes drifted to where his hand rested. He moved his thumb back and forth delicately.

“No,” he shook his head, eyes still on his hand. “Correct that. We’re having a baby.” Sabrina couldn’t help but smile.

“We are,” she nodded. “How do you feel about that?” Nick looked up her. She was nervous. He smiled at her.

“The woman I love is having my baby. That’s pretty much the only thing you could say to me that would make this day okay.” He reached for her and pulled her to him. He moved her legs so they were draped over his lap and took her in. He looked at her in pure awe, that she was his, that she was going to give him a child. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” she nodded. “All the symptoms I thought were stress – which were probably exasperated by stress – should have tipped me off, but then I was late, so I took a test early this morning, did a couple of Zelda’s rituals, too. If all of those things are to be believed, I am very, very pregnant.”

Nick smiled the brightest smile she had seen from him in a while.

“We’re going to have a baby.” He couldn’t believe it, in the best way. Sabrina rested her head on his shoulder.

“You’re happy?” she clarified. “I know the timing isn’t ideal, and that we only just got back together…”

“I’m beyond happy,” Nick assured her. “Sabrina, anytime I have ever thought of myself having children, I have only envisioned them as being half of you, no matter where I was or who I was with.” He kissed her, soft and sweet. His hand wandered back to her stomach as though it were drawn there. “How far along are you?” He knew she couldn’t be that far into pregnancy.

“A month,” she told. “We have a little reminder of our first night together.” That made Nick smirk a bit.

“Does anyone else know?”

“I wanted to tell you first.” Sabrina trailed her fingers along his jaw. It didn’t occur to her that she had shown symptoms so early on, had been for a couple of weeks now. She just knew she was pregnant. “I thought its daddy should know before anyone else.”

“Daddy,” Nick repeated, trying out the word, his thumb back to stroking across her abdomen. It brought back memories he didn’t care for. “How about ‘Papa?’ That’s what I called my dad.” Sabrina understood ‘Daddy’ reminded Nick of days gone by and now that she had said it, she didn’t care for it either.

“Papa,” she agreed. She thought Nick even looked like a ‘Papa.’ “I like that.” She accepted another kiss from him. “You’re going to be a great one. I know it.”

“I’m going to do my best,” he promised. He thought then of just a week earlier, when she had pushed herself through powerful magic. He had tackled her to the ground to save her from Gabriel. Before that, it had been weeks of stress, of her not taking care of herself the way she needed to, missing meals and not sleeping. She had even taken off after the Sons, only a few days pregnant at the time. It was not the way her first month of pregnancy should have gone. “We need Zelda,” he announced. He moved her legs off of him and stood.

“Wait, what?” she asked, scooting to the edge of the couch, confused by his sudden movements. “Why do we need Zelda?”

“She’s a midwife, isn’t she? You need a thorough checkup. I would do it myself, but I’ll admit I didn’t pay a lot of attention during my OB/GYN rotation. I did the bare minimum. The idea of birthing babies? Not nearly as appealing to me as the art of making them, not to mention that its mortal medicine and you’re a witch. Zelda will know what to look for it.”

“Nick…”

“You have had a Heaven of a month, with no idea you were pregnant,” he continued. “I’m not taking any chances, Sabrina.”

Sabrina sighed.

“I knew you were going to be like this,” she muttered.

“Like what?” Nick half demanded.

“Overprotective,” Sabrina said easily. “An absolute worry wart.”

“My girlfriend is having my baby,” he stated with no room for argument. “That same girlfriend has been fighting witch hunters, fighting with said boyfriend… Never mind not sleeping, not eating… You need an exam, Sabrina. You need to make sure you’re healthy, that our baby is healthy…”

“And I’ll have Zelda examine me,” Sabrina soothed him. His overreaction came from worry, from the fresh loss of Henry and his need to protect her. “Tomorrow. Tonight, I want to celebrate this new life – this life that you and I made – with you. As soon as my aunts know, it’s going to be Zelda, judging every little thing I eat or say or do and how it might affect the baby – which is going to be extra fun if this is how you’re going to be acting for the next year of my life – and Hilda will be dropping by constantly with this plate of food or that cake or this tea blend to help with that pregnancy symptom. I have wanted to be a mom for so long, Nick. Let me enjoy having this baby to myself – ourselves – for one more night.”

Nick considered her. She was right. Her aunts were going to do their best to be overly involved in every aspect of her pregnancy, unless she didn’t want them to be. In that case, it would be down to him to stand between them and Sabrina which would be a feat in and of itself. And really, he did want to celebrate the fact that she was having their baby, just them.

“You feel okay?” he questioned. “Nothing odd outside of normal pregnancy symptoms?”

“I feel fine,” Sabrina nodded. “Minus feeling nauseous and like I could sleep for a week and that the pie Hilda sent is actually the first thing that’s sounded appealing in days.” Nick smiled at her.

“Okay,” he agreed. “No exam tonight. Tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow we can tell the aunties,” Sabrina agreed. She gave him her best smile. “Wanna get that pie since you’re up?” Nick chuckled.

“And so it begins.” He had never been happier to get someone a slice of pie. Or, as was the case, the whole pie minus three slices as Hilda had sent what the Spellmans hadn’t eaten. He found two forks, thinking he might need to look into some sort of kitchen expansion if they were going to have a baby, and joined her on the couch. “Your pie, babe.”

“Thank you.” She took a fork from him and they started to eat pie straight out of the tin. “How is your shoulder?” she questioned.

“Much better,” he promised her. “A little sore, but nothing I can’t manage.”

“You’re telling me the truth?” she pressed.

“I’m telling you the truth,” he assured her.

“And… everything else?” she continued. Nick sighed heavily.

“I miss Henry,” he admitted. “He was a good guy.”

“He was,” Sabrina agreed. “I wish I had gotten a chance to to know him, to thank him for loving you when I couldn’t.”

“He always knew my heart belonged to someone else, and yet he loved me anyway,” Nick said. He relished the way Sabrina sat close, how her head lulled on his shoulder as she ate pie. “I’d give anything to be able to call him up, tell me I’m going to be a father.”

“I’m sure he already knows,” Sabrina chanced. She knew a thing or two about the afterlife, after all.

“Maybe,” Nick said. “He died so I could keep my promise not to leave you. He said we had a happy life ahead. I think we owe it to him to make it so.”

“I agree,” Sabrina nodded. “He asked me to love you well, and that’s a promise I will keep forever.”

They finished off the pie in companionable silence. When it was gone, Nick took her fork, tossed it into the tin with his, and placed it on coffee table. He laid down on the sofa, bringing Sabrina with him. His hand had once again found her stomach.

“Feeling okay?” he asked.

“For now,” she nodded. “We’ll find out soon if the little one isn’t a fan of cherry pie.”

“It’s wild,” Nick commented. “There’s a baby growing inside of you.”

“It is crazy, isn’t it?” She smiled at him. “All I’ve wanted for so long was to be a mom. One night with you and it happens.”

“Is it wrong that I’m a little proud of that?” Nick asked. “After fifty years of very vivid daydreams of being with you again, I finally get my chance and I knock you up.”

“Heaven of a way to put it,” Sabrina said, but her tone was amused.

“I told you the night I came to your room on your birthday that I wanted to give you everything,” he reminded her. “This baby? It’s only the start of the life you’ve always wanted – the one we’ve both wanted.”

Sabrina kissed him because there was nothing else she could do. He returned her kiss with a deep one of his own, drawing her closer to him.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Scratch?”

“I am,” he confirmed. “And you’re already pregnant, so our track record of not thinking about protection is no longer relevant.” He kissed her again. “Although knowing my baby is in there… I feel a little guilty about how rough I was with you last night.”

“I liked how rough you were with me,” she confessed and Nick smirked. “Which, by the way, Zelda heard us.” Nick pulled away.

“What? How?”

“She was doing a hall check. She let me know she kindly put a soundproofing charm around your door and that we should consider making it permanent.”

“Do me a favor?” Nick asked. “Tell her about the baby before she brings that up over breakfast tomorrow morning. That will distract her.” Sabrina laughed.

“Are you already using our baby to get out of trouble with Sister Spellman?”

“I am,” Nick nodded seriously. “I have no shame.”

Sabrina’s laugh was real, deep. Nick smiled and brought her back to him.

He whispered a soundproofing charm before he kissed her again.

* * *

Nick yawned widely, as he waited for the water to boil for Sabrina’s tea. It was half past five in the morning and Sabrina had awoken a half hour ago and shot out of bed for the bathroom. It had taken him a moment for his groggy brain to connect the dots, but he had followed her shortly after and held her hair back as she puked. She had decided ginger tea and Cheez-Its would help settle her stomach before breakfast and so he was downstairs in the kitchen, making tea and pilfering a box of processed crackers that seemed to be the most important thing in the world to her when he left her waiting in bed.

“What are you doing awake at this ungodly hour, Scratch?” Ambrose, also in pajamas and a robe, entered the kitchen with a big yawn.

“Sabrina’s not feeling well,” he said, deciding it wasn’t a lie. “Why are you up so early?”

“Prudence got in a few hours ago, figured there was no sense in going back to bed now, so I’m on the hunt for caffeine.” Nick didn’t bother to ask for more information.

The kettle whistled. Nick moved about pouring it over the tea while Ambrose set the coffeemaker. Nick picked up the tea and Cheez-Its, intent on returning to Sabrina. Ambrose’s stare stopped him, however. “What?”

“Ginger tea,” Ambrose stated. “And Cheez-Its.”

“It’s what she asked for,” Nick said. “She thinks it will settle her stomach before breakfast.”

Ambrose broke into a huge smile. “My, my, Scratch. You sure do work fast.”

“What are you talking about?” Nick tried to play dumb although he was certain Ambrose had deduced that Sabrina was pregnant.

“You’ve knocked up my cousin, you scoundrel,” he said in utter delight. “That didn’t take long at all.” His eyes somehow widened even more. “You’ve been sleeping together since before your official reconciliation! That explains all the glowering and not speaking. Ah, Scratch. Well done.”

“She’s planning to tell your aunts this morning,” Nick said, giving up his act. “Don’t breathe a word. When she tells you, pretend to be surprised.”

“Proud of you, Scratch.” Ambrose toasted him with an empty coffee mug. “I knew the moment you turned up at Kinkle’s funeral it would only be a matter of time.”

“My heart has only ever belonged to her,” Nick reminded him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take this tea and these Cheez-Its upstairs.”

“Cheez-Its?” Ambrose questioned.

“They were the most important thing in the world to her twenty minutes ago,” Nick said. “Pregnancy craving, I guess. Who would I be to not bring them to her?”

“Wrapped around her pretty little finger.” Ambrose shook his head in amusement. “Oh, this next year is going to be fun for you.”

“Nick?” Sabrina’s voice filtered in from the hall. Nick looked at Ambrose.

“You know nothing,” he warned him. Ambrose put his hands in a peace gesture and turned back to his coffee. Sabrina appeared in the kitchen, stifling a yawn. She looked a bit better, not quite as pale as when he left her.

“What’s taking so long?” she wondered.

“Just conversing with Ambrose,” he said. “I’ve got your tea and Cheez-Its. Why don’t we go back upstairs, try to get another couple hours of sleep?”

“Feeling ill, cousin?” Ambrose asked as he stirred sugar into his coffee. He couldn’t quite hide his smirk despite his best efforts. “Not sure Cheez-Its will help a churning stomach.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes at him, but her glare quickly turned to Nick.

“You told him!”

Nick’s eyes grew big.

“I didn’t…”

Ambrose laughed heartily.

“Nicholas,” Sabrina warned.

“I didn’t tell him,” Nick said again. “He figured it out.”

“He’s in the kitchen at half past five making ginger tea and hauling a box of Cheez-Its up the stairs,” Ambrose pointed out. “It really couldn’t be more obvious, cousin.”

Sabrina sighed and went to Nick.

“Don’t you dare tell the aunts,” she told Ambrose as Nick looped an arm around her. “I want to tell them.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Ambrose said, still smiling. “Congratulations, cousin. I really am happy for you. You’ve wanted to be a mother for a long time. I’m glad it’s going to be with this one.” He pointed at Nick.

“Me too,” Sabrina smiled as she leaned into Nick. “And thank you.” She made a face. “Only a year to go.” She had already determined that was one of the downsides of being a witch – thirteen months of pregnancy.

“How are you feeling?” Nick asked. “You look a bit better at any rate.”

“As opposed to how awful I looked earlier?” Sabrina questioned.

“That’s not what I meant,” Nick said quickly. Ambrose snickered. “I left you in bed with a cloth in your head…”

“And then you took a year to come back with my tea and crackers. So I had to make myself presentable and come down here.”

“’Presentable’ is a stretch,” Ambrose muttered. He yelped as Sabrina struck him with a buzz of electricity courtesy of a non-verbal spell. “Rude…”

“I was on my way,” Nick said in a patient tone. “Let’s go upstairs…”

“Well, I’m up now,” Sabrina huffed.

“Mood swings,” Ambrose observed.

“Shut up, Ambrose,” Sabrina snipped. “Or I’m going to do a lot worse than a tiny shock.”

“Gonna be a rough year for you, Scratch,” Ambrose continued, completely unfazed by Sabrina’s threat.

“Thin ice, Ambrose,” Nick warned. Ambrose just chuckled again.

“Is this the welcoming committee?” Prudence waltzed into the room, fully dressed for the day, right down to her makeup. Sabrina thought she might hate her in the moment.

“Sabrina’s ill and in a poor mood,” Ambrose supplied. “Nicholas was just herding her back upstairs.”

“Ill?” Prudence repeated as she made her way to the coffeepot. “Is that what we’re calling pregnant now?”

Sabrina’s jaw dropped.

“How did you…”

“Mind reader, remember?” she asked. She leaned against the counter with her cup of coffee, choosing to drink it black. “I knew before he did.” She nodded at Nick. “It’s been more or less the only thing on your mind for a couple of days while you tried to work up the nerve to take a test, save for worrying over Nicky.”

“Don’t…”

“Tell the aunts,” Prudence finished Nick’s sentence. “I know, I know. But congratulations, the both of you. If anyone should have a baby, it’s the pair of you.” She took a sip of coffee. “Ambrose? Your coffee is terrible.”

“Is that any way to talk to the man that just…”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Sabrina cut him off.

“What’s all this?” Hilda turned up in the kitchen, also fully dressed for the day, except she was dressed to cook.

“It’s like Grand Central Station in here,” Sabrina complained. Nick offered her the tea. She took it without comment, aware of her stomach flipping in a dangerous sort of way. She would either be fine or over a toilet within minutes.

“Bit early for the lot of you to be in my kitchen,” Hilda continued. “I’ve got breakfast to prepare.”

“Prudence got in a few hours ago, I wanted coffee, Nick was on an errand for Sabrina, and Sabrina thought he was taking too long,” Ambrose summarized. Hilda looked around the room, then shook her head.

“The lot of you, always up to something,” she grumbled. “Clear out unless you’re intending to help me scramble the eggs.”

Sabrina blanched at the mere thought of eggs. Nick noticed.

“You okay?” he asked softly, taking the tea from her in case she needed to make a run for it. Sabrina turned into his chest and took a deep breath as an answer in an attempt to stave off the nausea. He hugged her close and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

“Sabrina?” Hilda stopped with a large palette of eggs in her hands. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, auntie,” Sabrina said in an unconvincing voice. “Just a little upset stomach.”

Hilda looked at her hard. Her eyes drifted to Nick who made a consorted effort not to make eye contact. Hilda didn’t have Prudence’s abilities to read minds, but he was certain she had the skill to sniff out any sort of ailment or fib.

“Upset stomach?” Hilda repeated suspiciously. “Is that all?” Sabrina faltered. She wanted to tell her aunts together, but it was Hilda and she was hard to lie to. She didn’t get a chance to make up her mind. “Sabrina Spellman, are you pregnant?”

Ambrose was quick to snatch the eggs from Hilda.

“Yes, Auntie,” Sabrina nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. “Nick and I are having a baby.”

Hilda let out a high-pitched squeal that would rival any teenage girl. She rushed around the kitchen island and tore Sabrina from Nick’s arms.

“Oh, my girl!” she exclaimed as she engulfed Sabrina in an all-encompassing hug. “A baby!” Her hug tightened. “After all this time… With Nicholas at that… Oh! I’m just so happy!”

“Thank you, Hilda,” Sabrina said as she squirmed to get free. Hilda was crushing her ribs. “We’re excited…”

“Oh, a baby! I just cannot believe it! What wonderful news!”

“You’re crushing me, Hilda,” Sabrina managed, aware too that her stomach was lurching. Hilda let her go, only to turn on Nick.

“Nicholas!” The hug she wrapped him in was strong enough to make him grunt as she collided with him. “Oh you dear boy, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She kissed his cheek and patted the other one. “You’ve made her so happy! A baby!”

“A baby,” Nick repeated with a smile. He still couldn’t quite believe it himself. He glanced over Hilda’s shoulder and saw Sabrina looked queasy. “Sabrina?” He gently extricated himself from Hilda and went to her. He pulled out a stool. “Here, sit down.”

Sabrina was too nauseous to disagree. She sat down, crossed her arms on the kitchen island, and rested her head on them. She focused on breathing while Nick rubbed her back.

“How far along is she?” Hilda asked, back to business now that Sabrina was clearly suffering.

“Four weeks,” Nick answered. “Not far.”

“Morning sickness this severe starting this early,” Hilda muttered to herself. “She’s been nauseous for days, hasn’t she?” Nick nodded, his doctor mind clicking together the pieces.

“Hyperemesis Gravidarum,” he said.

“Looks like it,” Hilda nodded.

“What’s that?” Sabrina asked, raising her head enough to look at Nick. Nick was nervous to tell her the answer.

“Extreme morning sickness,” he admitted. “You’ve been nauseous and sick more often than not these last several days in particular.”

“Fantastic,” Sabrina muttered, but she wasn’t worried about herself. “Is the baby going to be okay?”

“As long as you take care of yourself, the babe will be fine,” Hilda soothed her as Nick put his arm around her. She leaned into him. “We’ll have to make sure you’re staying hydrated and getting enough to eat. It’s important you eat enough to nourish both yourself and the little one.”

“I can’t keep anything down,” Sabrina complained. “And nothing sounds good – except the Cheez-Its.” She picked up her tea, took a sip, and made a face. “And now this is cold.”

“I’ll make you some more.” Nick pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re going to be fine.”

“You’re not the one walking around with your insides churning,” Sabrina grumbled.

“Gonna be a fun year for you, Nicky,” Prudence said from her spot along the counter.

“That’s what I said,” Ambrose clicked his coffee mug against hers. Nick could only glare at them as he continued to comfort Sabrina.

“Hush, you two,” Hilda scolded. “I’ll make her tea, Nicholas. It’ll just take a minute. You keep her comfortable.”

“Can you hold off on cooking until I’m out of here?” Sabrina requested. “I can’t…”

“I can wait a few minutes,” Hilda agreed, already putting the kettle on. “A baby! I cannot believe it!” Sabrina reached for the box of Cheez-Its.

“Looks like I’m going to survive on processed crackers for the next year,” she stated as she dug her hand into the box.

“It should ease up in a few weeks,” Nick offered. Sabrina narrowed her eyes at him.

“Define ‘few’ Dr. Scratch.”

“Most women start to feel better after their first trimester…”

“I’m not most women, am I?” Sabrina pointed out. She was certain in the moment that she was going to be sick for the rest of her days, particularly given Nick’s definition of what a ‘few’ weeks meant. “This baby is half yours. Of course it’s going to be a troublemaker.”

“I’d gander that you’re the troublemaker in your relationship,” Ambrose piped up. Sabrina straightened up, ready to have a go at him, her patience shot. Nick pulled her back into his side in an attempt to ward off the argument that was coming.

“Seriously, Ambrose, the ice you’re on?” he asked. “Really thin. Thinner than paper thin.”

“Leave her be,” Hilda chided Ambrose. “She’s growing a life.”

“As opposed to you,” Sabrina snipped. Prudence chuckled. Nick could only press a kiss to her temple in an effort to keep the peace.

“Do I want to know why all of you are gathered in this kitchen before six in the morning?” came Zelda’s voice. She was dressed in a fine robe and already on her first cigarette of the day.

“It really is Grand Central Station,” Prudence noted.

“To recap once more, I,” Ambrose pointed to himself, “came down to get coffee as Prudence,” he waved his hand at her, “got in late last night – or early this morning, such as it is. We decided there was no point in going to bed.” He motioned to Hilda. “You know why she’s here. Breakfast.” He then brought his hand to Sabrina and Nick. “As for these two, Sabrina isn’t feeling well, so Nicholas was making her tea – and taking too long, hence why she’s down here.”

Zelda looked Sabrina up and down.

“She’s not sick, she’s pregnant.” Sabrina’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Oh please, Sabrina, I’ve been a midwife for how many hundreds of years? I knew you were with child before you did.”

“I’m pregnant,” Sabrina confirmed. “Nick and I are having a baby.”

“Good,” Zelda said with a rare smile. “Congratulations, you two.” She practically smirked at Nick. “To think you were so insistent on leaving when you first turned up here, Brother Scratch.”

Sabrina looked to Nick.

“You were going to leave?”

He heard the undertone of panic in her voice. He used the arm around her to pull her in and caught her chin with his thumb and pointer finger so she had to look at him.

“I stayed.”

Sabrina smiled a bit and nodded her understanding. He had stayed. He would stay from now on. He kissed her cheek.

“Sabrina seems to have a case of Hyperemesis Gravidarum,” Hilda reported to Zelda. “I’m sending her upstairs with some ginger tea.”

“You’ll need to make sure you’re staying hydrated,” Zelda began.

“And eating enough,” Sabrina finished. “Hilda already told me as much.”

“She’ll need an exam,” Nick spoke up. “Particularly after the last week…”

“Come to the infirmary around one,” Zelda nodded. “I’ll have a look.”

“Okay…” Sabrina started.

“I’m teaching then,” Nick spoke up. “Can we do it later this afternoon?” Zelda considered him for a moment.

“I should have known you’d want to be one of those involved fathers,” she mused. “Fine then. How about four?” Nick looked to Sabrina for confirmation.

“My involved boyfriend and I will be there,” she said to Zelda with a bit of a bite. Zelda merely made her way to the coffee pot.

“Here’s a fresh cup of tea, love,” Hilda put a teacup in front of her. “I put a bit of lemon in it, too. It will help settle your stomach.”

“Thanks, Auntie.” Her stomach hard stopped churning, but the faint feeling of nausea was still present.

“Why don’t we get out of Hilda’s way?” Nick asked Sabrina. “Go upstairs, have your tea, try to get another couple of hours of sleep?”

“Okay,” Sabrina agreed.

“Congratulations again, love,” Hilda said. “If you need anything at all…”

“I know,” Sabrina smiled. “Thank you.

The four of them left in the kitchen watched the couple go, Nick’s hand on her back, holding her tea with the other, Sabrina with the Cheez-Its hugged to her chest. Zelda turned to Hilda with a superior look gracing her features.

“And to think you doubted me, sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We started off a little heavy with the aftermath of Henry's loss, but things ended on a high note, didn't they? So many comments were hoping for happiness/romance/kids... This is the first time I've written a pregnancy into a fic like this, but it felt right for them to get to this place now. One more update to go! 
> 
> Thanks for reading - let me know what you thought of it!


	18. Always Have, Always Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's all fluff.

“Have you seen my purple pajama bottoms?” Sabrina asked as she rummaged through her dresser.

“I think they might be in my quarters,” Nick replied. He was already propped up against the headboard of her bed, under the covers with a book in his lap. “Want me to run down and get them?”

“No,” Sabrina sighed. “They probably won’t fit anyway.” Nick knew better than to say anything to the contrary. Her bump was just starting to show, and he thought it was the sexiest thing on earth. Sabrina, however, was struggling with the concept that so few of her clothes fit. “I’ll just sleep in one of your t-shirts.”

“Your aunts are dying to take you shopping,” he reminded her. “Maybe take them up on their offer this weekend?”

“May as well,” Sabrina sighed. She dropped her robe and Nick openly stared at her naked body as she slipped on a pair of panties and then found one of his t-shirts.

“How are you feeling, Spellman?” he asked as she made her way to him.

“Not awful. I think, maybe, I’m finally starting to beat this whole all the time sickness thing. But now that I’ve said so, your kid will probably come at me with a vengeance first thing tomorrow morning.”

“So it’s my kid when it’s causing you trouble, huh?”

“I think that’s fair,” Sabrina reasoned as she slipped under the covers. “I’m literally growing it. You have to be blamed for something.” Nick chuckled.

“I won’t argue with you.” He placed his book on the nightstand and wrapped an arm around her. She was all too happy to come to his side. He placed his other hand over her stomach and just took her in for a moment. She was glowing, happy. She was sixteen weeks along, four months down, nine to go, and he really thought he might be willing to give her a baker’s dozen worth of kids just to see her like this.

“You know, my missing pajamas brings up a good point,” she started.

“What’s that?”

Sabrina pulled away so she could face him. “We’re having a baby.”

“We are,” Nick nodded, trying not to smirk at her serious expression.

“We’re having a baby,” she repeated. “But we’re basically living between two spaces.”

Nick saw where this was going. They tended to find one another at the end of the day, have dinner, and then naturally drifted to her space or his for the night. It was working for now, but it wouldn’t work so well when there was an infant involved.

“You have clothes here,” Sabrina continued. “I have clothes at your place. We have both somehow acquired two sets of toiletries. And now I’m having a baby. A baby that I have no room for in my quarters. You, however, have two bedrooms that aren’t being used. Our baby could have its own room there. Plus, you did that bit of expansion magic to add a kitchenette. That could come in handy for late night feedings, not to mention that fancy coffee maker of yours which I mean, we’re going to be sleep deprived… And we haven’t spent a single night apart…”

“Technically, we have…”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes and he grinned. In the midst of the worst of her sickness, she had thrown a tantrum and kicked him out of her room. He had been ever patient with her and gone to his quarters for the night, only to be woken up by a text from her a few hours later asking if he would go down to the kitchen to get her some of the ginger chews that helped her stomach.

“Be serious, Nicholas,” she chided.

“Spellman, are you asking to move in with me?” Nick asked. His eyes twinkled as he waited for her response.

“I’m not asking so much as suggesting it as something to consider.” She was diplomatic in her approach. “We can take some time, think about it. I’ve got a whole nine months left…” Nick took her hand and squeezed.

“Babe, you and I are thinking the same thing,” he assured her. “I have a lot more space in my quarters. We can make one of the bedrooms a nursery, although I have a feeling this one,” his hand went to her stomach, “will be sleeping in a bassinette in our room for a while. Zelda would probably roll her eyes if she heard me say it, but I want our family under one roof.”

“Our family,” Sabrina repeated with a soft smile. “Hecate, I love how that sounds.”

“Me too,” Nick agreed as he pulled her into him once more. She settled into his embrace as she did most nights. “So you’re moving in with me? It’s settled?”

“It’s what you want?” Sabrina had to confirm.

“More than anything,” Nick promised her. “I can have you moved right now – remember moving out of the mortuary? I’m great at transference spells.”

“I think we can wait for at least the night,” Sabrina told him with a smile. She covered a wide yawn with her hand.

“Bedtime, Spellman,” Nick determined. Salem meowed his agreement from where he had curled up on her vanity chair. Sabrina didn’t protest and Nick pitched them into darkness. While he was comfortable almost immediately, she tossed and turned next to him. “Spellman?” he questioned after a few minutes.

“I can’t get comfortable,” she whined. Without a word, Nick rolled over and tried to spoon her. She laid still for a couple of minutes, but then huffed and pushed him off of her. “You’re too hot,” she complained. “Which sucks, because I like laying like this.”

“Want me to conjure a fan?” he offered.

“No,” Sabrina sighed. “It’s the dead of winter.”

“If you’re hot…”

“No, you’re hot,” Sabrina corrected. “And I don’t mean that in the how good you look sense. Your body feels like a furnace.” Nick chuckled. Temperature regulation was something he had given up the fight on in the name of her comfort, at least while she was pregnant, never mind the fact that his body had been forged in the flames of hell and always ran warm. “Pillows,” she decided. “I think I need more pillows.”

“I can do that.” Nick floated a couple of the pillows he had tossed to the floor when he got in bed to her. She caught both of them and made a show of stuffing one between her knees and another to support her back. “We’re buying you one of those pregnancy pillow things I saw on the internet tomorrow.”

“Have it overnighted,” Sabrina directed. Nick chuckled again and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She turned her head so she could catch his lips. “You’re a good boyfriend, Nick. You’re going to be an amazing father, too.”

“I’m doing my best.” He kissed her shoulder. “I love you, Sabrina.” Sabrina smiled. She didn’t think she would ever tire of hearing Nick say those words.

“I love you too, Scratch.”

His hand drifted to her stomach. “I love you both.” He kissed her shoulder again. “Always have, always will.”

* * *

“Is this really necessary?” Zelda huffed.

“Yes,” Sabrina stated. Nick said nothing but continued his work of hooking up the machine he had procured in an effort to make Sabrina happy.

“But this is something _mortals_ do,” Zelda continued. “We witches have been birthing children without any sort of contraption like this for centuries.”

“Zelda, this is what Sabrina wants,” Hilda mollified her. “She’s the one that’s having a baby.”

“Good point, Hilda,” Sabrina nodded once. “I _am_ the one that’s having a baby and this is, in fact, what I want.

“We’re all well aware of that,” Ambrose said. Sabrina had become even more demanding than usual in her pregnant state. “Come on, Aunt Zelda, we’re about to see Sabrina’s insides. That’s pretty cool.”

“You were a mortician once,” Zelda reminded him. “You have seen plenty of insides.”

“Yes, but most of those were dead….”

“Okay,” Nick cut them off, before Sabrina could grow more irritated. He did that a lot lately, intervening between Sabrina and any one of her family members, Prudence included, before Sabrina got riled up. “Everything is ready to go.”

“Do you know how to use that thing, Mr. Scratch?” Zelda asked skeptically.

“I did go to medical school,” Nick reminded her.

“For mortals…”

“Their bodies function more or less the same as witches,” Ambrose pointed out. “Just less magic.”

“Nicholas would never harm Sabrina,” Hilda supplied.

“How did you get that contraption anyway, Nicholas?” Zelda ignored Hilda in favor of questioning Nick further.

“It’s best you not know.” He saw Sabrina bite her lip in an effort to keep from smirking. Ambrose chuckled. They both knew he had bought the thing and had it delivered to a package store two towns over. He had teleported to pick it up, got it out the door, and then simply sent it back to the Academy with one of his now famed transference spells after he moved the entirety of Sabrina’s quarters into his space with one sentence. “You ready, Spellman?” Sabrina could barely disguise her excitement as she nodded. “Okay, then.” He grinned broadly. “Let’s see our baby.”

Nick picked up the wand of the ultrasound. He turned to Sabrina who had already lifted her shirt to show her six months pregnant stomach.

“Wait.” Nick stopped and raised his eyebrow in question, but Sabrina’s eyes were on her aunts and Ambrose. “Get out,” she announced.

“Excuse me?” Zelda replied.

“Get out,” Sabrina stated again. “All three of you. Out.”

“Now hold a minute…” Ambrose started.

“Sabrina, love, why…” Hilda began at the same time.

“You can come back in a few minutes,” she told them. “But I want this to be just Nick and I at first. I want us to have this moment.”

Nick smiled. He liked the idea of sharing this moment with just Sabrina. He liked the Spellmans just fine, even considered them his family. But this was his girlfriend, their baby. It was special to see their baby together, just the two of them.

“All of this hoopla just to get kicked out of the room,” Zelda mumbled. “My Hecate.”

“We understand,” Hilda said, already shepherding her sister and nephew out of Nick and Sabrina’s bedroom. “Call us when you’re ready for us to come back.”

“To be clear, I still get to see your insides?” Ambrose inquired as Hilda pushed him out the door.

“Go!” Sabrina ordered.

Hilda shoved Ambrose a little harder than necessary then smiled at them as she shut the door behind the rest of the Spellmans, leaving Nick and Sabrina alone.

“You have an odd family, Spellman,” Nick observed.

“They’re your family, too,” Sabrina reminded him. Nick nodded.

“I know,” he told her with a smile. He picked up a bottle of gel. “This is going to be a little cold.” He squirted some of it on her belly and rubbed it. Sabrina made a face.

“You weren’t kidding about it being cold.”

“Not much I can do about it,” Nick said, his hand still moving. It stilled suddenly. He looked at Sabrina, eyes wide. She was beaming.

“You felt that didn’t you?” she asked.

“That was the baby?” Nick clarified. Sabrina had been able to feel the baby moving for a few weeks now, but he hadn’t been able to feel it yet.

“That was the baby,” Sabrina confirmed, still beaming. “Weird, huh?”

“In the best way.”

Nick kept his hand where it was for another few moments, waiting to see if he could feel it again. When he didn’t, he leaned forward, kissed Sabrina’s forehead, and resumed his work.

“You know what you’re doing, Scratch?” Sabrina asked as she relaxed into the pillows. “I seem to remember you telling me you didn’t pay a lot of attention during your OB/GYN rotation.”

“I can do a basic ultrasound,” Nick promised her. “And for the record, I paid enough attention to make sure the woman carrying my baby is well taken care of.” He held up the wand. “Ready for real this time?”

“Ready for real this time,” Sabrina nodded. Nick took a deep breath.

“Here we go, Spellman.”

He settled the wand on her abdomen. It didn’t take long before the small screen at her bedside filled with a sepia-toned 3D image that made Sabrina gasp.

“That’s…”

“Our baby,” Nick finished, his own awe echoing hers.

“Wow,” Sabrina breathed.

Tears filled her eyes. She knew witches didn’t typically do things like ultrasounds. Many of their kind didn’t embrace technology. Even Ambrose only used it to a point. But both she and Nick liked to dabble in it, and she had desperately wanted an ultrasound like her mortal friends from a lifetime ago that had proudly displayed their ultrasound images and growing bellies. She couldn’t post about it on social media like they had, but she could still have the images.

“You’re positive about not knowing the sex?” Nick asked.

“I am,” Sabrina nodded. “You?”

“I’m doing my best not to look,” Nick promised as he moved the wand around. The baby was active, moving and rolling. “It’s not cooperating on that front anyway.”

“Is it crazy to say our baby looks just like you?” Sabrina wondered, her eyes never leaving the screen.

“I’d say it’s hard to tell,” Nick replied. His eyes, too, were on the screen. Sabrina just shook her head. She saw it clear as day. Boy or girl, the life growing inside of her looked exactly like the man that had helped create it.

“Everything is okay?” she asked. “They’re healthy?”

“Healthy and perfect,” Nick confirmed. He mulled his lip, debating on whether he shared a theory he had with Sabrina, then opted not to. He had nothing to base his theory on, and it would worry her needlessly, especially when she was completely healthy, as was their baby. “You ready to let the aunts in?”

“Almost.” She reached for him. “Kiss me, first.” Nick was all too happy to oblige. “Thank you, Nick. I know you went through a lot of trouble to get this machine and make me happy.”

“I’ll do anything for you,” Nick reminded her. He kissed her again. “Aunt time?”

“Aunt time,” Sabrina nodded. “Aunties!” she called. “Ambrose!” The door creaked open.

“Are we allowed back in?” Zelda questioned.

“Come see,” Sabrina beckoned them forward. The three Spellmans filed in and lined up alongside the bed. Sabrina tore her eyes away from the screen to watch their reaction and she was glad she did. All three of them stood there with slack jaws and wide eyes as they took in the screen. She glanced at Nick and saw he was smiling broadly. He winked at her.

“That’s a baby,” Hilda managed.

“That’s Sabrina’s baby,” Ambrose echoed. “And Nick’s. Can’t leave him out. The thing looks just like him…”

“Don’t call my baby a thing!” Sabrina snapped at Ambrose.

“Until I know if it’s a boy or a girl…”

“Ambrose,” Nick cut him off with a warning look. Still, he couldn’t quite hide his amusement. Ambrose chuckled, but stopped the latest round of his ongoing crusade to find out the baby’s gender. Two nights ago he had attempted a ritual at dinner that had ended with Sabrina using magic to pour wine over his head. The wine had gotten all over Prudence’s white outfit in the process and she had in turn lectured him for a half hour about his immaturity, much to Sabrina’s pleasure.

“Perhaps this contraption isn’t completely ridiculous,” Zelda admitted. She couldn’t look away from the little life on the screen.

Nick took a few photos before they ended the session. When he returned from moving the ultrasound to the infirmary, he found Sabrina perched on the edge of their bed, ultrasound photos in hand.

“That’s one perfect baby,” he said as he kicked off his dress shoes.

“It really is.” She got to her feet and placed the photos on her dresser.

“Anything in particular you want for dinner tonight?” Nick asked as he changed out of his work clothes.

“Spaghetti.” She had been thinking about it all day. “With garlic bread and a side salad.”

“Easy enough,” Nick agreed. They were still cooking meals together when Hilda had a night off. He pulled a t-shirt over his head. “How are you feeling?”

“Pregnant,” she answered. “Happy.” She rubbed her belly as she watched Nick. “How about you, Scratch? How are you feeling?”

“Happy,” he echoed with a smile. “I’ve got you, and we saw our baby today.” He wrapped her in a hug. Her belly was starting to get in the way, but he didn’t mind. He liked the feed of her rounding stomach pressed into his. “I love you beyond reason, Spellman.”

“And I love you,” Sabrina replied, her hands playing through his curls. “I can’t wait to have your baby.”

“What would you think about… Being my wife, too?” Nick wondered. Sabrina’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

Nick pushed her hair back and smiled.

“I told you I wanted to give you everything. We’re having a baby. If you’re up for it, I want you to be my wife. Of course, if it’s not what you want, if you want us to stay just like this, boyfriend and girlfriend, that’s okay, too. But I’ve wanted to put it on the table for a while now.”

“I want to marry you,” Sabrina said with a soft smile and no doubt. “Very much so.”

Nick cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb back and forth across it. “Okay then,” he nodded. “I’ll ask you properly – soon.”

“I want a witch wedding,” she told him. “I had the mortal wedding, and that didn’t work out so well for me. I want a witch wedding.”

“Whatever you want,” Nick promised her. He kissed her forehead. “And we can be the Spellman-Scratches, the Scratch-Spellmans… I’ll even change my last name to Spellman. I just want to be married to you.”

“Scratch,” Sabrina stated. “I want to be ‘Sabrina Scratch.’”

Nick looked surprised. Being a Spellman had been everything to her, particularly when she learned of her true parentage. He opened up his mouth to protest, but she stopped him.

“Being a Spellman will always be who I am at my core. When I married Harvey, I refused to change my name and it was a big deal to him. Honestly, the fight that followed almost ended up in us not walking down the aisle.” She should have seen then how things would go, but she couldn’t change the past. “I’ve lived the last sixty-eight years of my life as a Spellman and I was so unhappy for a lot of it. I’ve learned I can be ‘Sabrina Spellman,’ but can also build my own person.” She rubbed his shoulders. “I’m with you, Nick. _You._ I’m so happy with you.” Nick smiled at that. That was all he wanted – to make her happy. “Having your babies, being Sister Scratch when I start teaching after the baby is born? That’s what I want. It feels right, to be a ‘Scratch’ in this chapter of my life.”

Nick could only kiss her.

“I know you don’t need me to take care of you,” he said, his forehead resting against hers. “But I will for the rest of our very long lives.” His hand went to her stomach. “And this one and any others that come along, too.”

“And I will take care of you,” Sabrina promised. “Me and you, Scratch.”

“Me and you,” Nick echoed. He kissed her. “Like it was always meant to be.”

* * *

Sabrina made a face and rubbed her back as she half walked, half waddled out of the bathroom. At eleven months pregnant, she was over it. She wanted this baby. She wanted to have more babies with Nick. But she did not enjoy being pregnant.

At all.

She made herself a snack in the kitchenette, then lowered herself to the couch with some difficulty. Getting up would be hard, but she would somehow manage it. She would have to. The baby wasn’t going to let her sit long before it decided to use her bladder as a trampoline once more.

She balanced the bowl of trail mix on her stomach – that was one pregnancy perk she didn’t hate – and turned on the TV. She settled on a bad reality show about rich wives in Beverly Hills and thought through her pre-baby to do list.

The baby’s nursery was mostly done. She had a few finishing touches to add, but she was happy with it. She was done with study halls and tutoring for the day, supposed she could be productive and read up on mythology as she would transition to teaching it once the baby was born, but that would involve getting up for something aside from a bathroom break and she just didn’t think that was necessary.

Her aunts and Ambrose were gone. There was a summit of the heads of covens taking place in a remote area of Bosnia and they were off to represent the Church of Hecate in an effort to build better relations among their kind and perhaps spread their beliefs. Nick was supposed to go but had decided to stay back at the last minute. He had told her it was because someone needed to be at the Academy, but he she was certain he hadn’t wanted to leave her this far into pregnancy. He had refused to allow her to go, despite how badly she wanted to, perhaps the one time he had ever outright refused to hear her out, and so Prudence had gone in their place. Nick was now in the charge of the school for the week.

She thought he rather relished it.

She smiled as she thought of Nick. It still amazed her, that they were together, married now, a baby on the way. It had only taken him a couple of days to present her with turtle doves. They had married a few weeks later after Sabrina insisted she wanted a small ceremony with just their family and closest friends. Henry’s parents came and Sabrina had loved them, loved that they cared for Nick the way her own family did. Iris had been their flower girl and Nick had whisked her off to a cute little seaside town for a honeymoon. If she weren’t already pregnant, she was sure she would have been after that particular adventure.

Now, she was nesting and trying not to wish away the next two months so she could meet her baby while Nick took on more and more responsibility at the Academy and impressed her daily with just how good of a husband and expectant father he was. It had taken them fifty years, but they had finally gotten it right.

She winced again and wiggled a bit, trying to get comfortable. She assumed it was normal, decided she would ask Nick when he got back, just to be sure. His medical background had proven beneficial and certainly more up to date than Zelda’s who was still a brilliant midwife, however dated her methods were. She continued to eat her trail mix and watch crap television. The pain kept coming. It was getting stronger, so much so she stood and began to pace the living room in an effort to relieve it. By the time Nick arrived in their quarters, she was leaning on the kitchenette counter, her head bowed as she tried to breathe through the pain.

“Hey babe,” he greeted as he breezed in. He stopped in his tracks as he took her in. “Sabrina?” He was at her side in an instant. “Sabrina, what’s wrong?”

“I think…” She took a breath. “I think I might be in labor.”

Nick’s heart dropped to his stomach.

“What are you feeling?” he asked urgently.

“Pains that come and go in my low back that wraps around to the front,” she told him as she straightened up, the pain having eased up. “I’ve had them all afternoon. They were dull at first, but they’re getting stronger.”

“Are they closer together?”

Sabrina nodded. Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s too soon, Nick,” she said, her panic clear. “We still have two months…”

“Hey hey hey,” he soothed, reaching for her. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. Our baby is going to be okay.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.

“I’ve been wishing pregnancy away,” she confessed. “I want this baby. I want more babies after this one. I don’t love being pregnant, but I don’t want anything to happen…”

“It’s going to be okay,” Nick said again. “I’m here.”

His mind was racing. He immediately started disaster planning. Witches didn’t go to mortal hospitals, but he wouldn’t hesitate to take Sabrina if she or their baby needed medical help he couldn’t provide. He would do all the magic he needed to do to keep their true identity under wraps, make sure they were taken care of.

“What do we do?” Sabrina asked, relying entirely on Nick in the moment. “Can we stop this?” There was no time for him to answer. Another contraction hit. “Ah!”

“Breathe,” Nick coached as Sabrina clung to him. He hadn’t timed anything, but he was smart enough to realize this one had quickly followed the one he walked in on. “Just breathe, Spellman.”

Her last name was Scratch now, but she would always be ‘Spellman’ to him

When it eased, she straightened up and exhaled. “I’ve got to use the restroom. Even mid-labor, this kid is running me to the bathroom.” Nick pressed a kiss to her head. When she had disappeared into bathroom, he exhaled a breath of his own and ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“Shit,” he breathed. “Okay. This is going to be okay.”

He continued to simply stand there, talking himself down, knowing he had to be strong for Sabrina. He could see the fear in her eyes. He wouldn’t let her see his. He buried it down deep, determined to be the husband she needed and the father their baby needed.

“Nick?”

She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, eyes wide.

“What happened?” he asked right away.

“My water broke.” She practically choked on the words. “It’s too early, Nick. It’s too early…”

“Maybe it’s not,” he offered as he approached her. “I’ve been rolling a thought around in my mind, and I think I might be right.” She raised an eyebrow, waiting for explanation. “Pregnancy in mortals lasts nine months,” he reminded her. “Witch pregnancies last thirteen months. You’re half witch, half mortal. You are also eleven months pregnant. Eleven is the average between those two.”

“You think I’m at full term because I’m dual,” Sabrina understood.

“It’s a guess,” Nick said. “I know even less about witch pregnancies than I do mortal ones. But when we do ultrasounds, everything looked on track with that theory – development a little ahead of where a witch would be, a little behind where a mortal would be.” He brushed her hair back. “I think we’re having a baby this evening, Spellman.”

“Oh my Hecate,” Sabrina breathed as reality started to sink in. “My aunts… They aren’t here…”

“I’ll send them a message. I can’t guarantee it will get to them until they wrap up the summit given the security around it, but I’ll try.” She opened her mouth to reply, but another contraction hit. She leaned into him as she tried to breathe through it. When it passed, she exhaled a big breath.

“I’m going to change,” she determined. She was already down to just the dress she had worn that day, her tights and panties discarded once her water broke. “Then – get into bed.”

“That’s a good plan,” Nick nodded. “Do you need some help?”

“Just send my aunts a message,” she told him.

She found a comfortable gown and quickly changed, eager to get into bed before the next contraction hit. She kept a mental pep talk going in her head, telling herself that Nick was right, that she was full-term, that their baby was going to be okay. She had no fear about herself. Her only concern was her baby.

Nick found her in bed, breathing through another contraction. He came to her and rubbed small circles on her low back while he whispered soothing words.

“I’ve sent word to your aunts,” he shared once it passed. “I didn’t give a lot of details, just that I had things under control, but they were needed at the Academy.”

“You might have to deliver this baby, Scratch,” she said. “Think you’re up for it?”

“Absolutely,” Nick nodded. He had daydreamed about when Sabrina went into labor, but it had never been like this. It had never been him delivering the baby. It had always been him holding her hand, coaching her through while Zelda and Hilda took care of the medical part. He smiled at her. “We’re having a baby, Spellman.”

“Soon, judging by how I feel,” she informed him.

That was the moment in which Nick began to walk the line between husband and doctor. He combed his brain, trying to remember everything he could from his OB/GYN rotation. The only things he knew for sure was that Sabrina’s labor was progressing fast and he didn’t know enough about healing to know what blend of herbs to give her to ease her pain without harming the baby.

“Nick,” she groaned sometime later. She was covered in sweat and clearly in pain.

“I know,” he soothed. “You’re doing great, Sabrina. You really are.”

“Shut up,” she muttered. Nick bit back his chuckle. She was swinging from wanting his comfort to blaming him for this entire situation and back again.

“I’m going to see how far along you are,” he told her before he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“This is weird,” she told him. “You’re between my legs…”

“A place I’ve been many times,” Nick reminded her as he proceeded with his exam. He heard Sabrina scoff. Nick took a deep breath to steel himself. He returned to Sabrina and took her hand. “It’s time, babe.”

“To push?” she clarified.

“Next contraction,” Nick nodded. Sabrina shook her head.

“I don’t think I can.” Panic and fear started to course through her body.

“You absolutely can,” he told her firmly. “You have done impossible things, Sabrina. And you’re going to do this, too. You’re going to give birth to our baby.” He kissed her hair. “A baby you have waited so long for. A baby that’s ours.”

“Okay,” Sabrina nodded as she took his words to heart. She took a deep breath. “I can do this.”

“You can,” Nick assured her. “Everything is going to be fine.” He caught her chin and held her so she had to look at him. “I’m not letting anything happen to you or our baby.” He kissed her lips and ran a hand along her belly. “I love you, Spellman.”

“I love you, Scratch.” She took another breath. “Okay. Let’s have this baby.”

Nick moved away and gathered the supplies had had collected a few hours ago when it occurred to him that he might end up being the one to deliver their baby. Sabrina closed her eyes and said a quick prayer to Hecate. What she didn’t know was Nick was doing the same.

Labor was horrible. Sabrina wanted Nick’s hand to hold, his reassurance that things were going to be okay. Instead, she was on her own, Nick doing his best to coach her and comfort her as he watched their baby make its way into the world. He was struggling himself, her cries of pain hurting him, his desire to go to her strong, but so was the necessity for him to serve as doctor.

“Almost there,” he assured her. He couldn’t help but grin. “It’s got a lot of hair, Sabrina.”

“Hilda said it would,” Sabrina breathed. She was utterly exhausted. “Heartburn.” She grunted. “Here comes another contraction.”

Sabrina found some sort of superhuman power within her. Two contractions later, the sweetest cry she had ever heard filled their bedroom. Nick cradled his newborn and forced his tears away so he could see to cut the umbilical cord.

“Nick?” she questioned, working to push herself up to her elbows even in her weak, tired state. She saw a tiny hand reach out from the bundle of towels in Nick’s arms

“It’s a boy,” he said as he placed the baby on Sabrina’s chest, his voice thick with emotion. “He’s healthy. Perfect.”

“Oh my Hecate,” Sabrina breathed as she took in her son. He was small and beautiful with a head full of dark hair. His cries started to wane as he rooted around her chest. Instinctively, Sabrina pushed her nightgown off her shoulder and freed herself. She stroked her little boy’s cheek with a light finger, and he turned into her. “Ah!”

“What?” Nick asked. He was back at her side. She hadn’t noticed he had left and was cleaning up between her legs. She was no longer interested in whatever was going on down there. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s nursing,” she said in utter awe. “Just like that.”

“That’s really good,” Nick said as he took in the image. “Newborns are born with an instinct to nurse. Feeding looks to come naturally to him.” All three of them were an utter mess, but none of them cared. “How are you feeling?”

“Amazing.” Sabrina didn’t take her eyes off of the baby. “Exhausted.”

“Me, too,” Nick nodded. He took a deep breath as reality started to settle around him. “Unholy shit. We did that.”

He had no idea how. He had no idea how he had managed to deliver a baby without another set of hands, how Sabrina had been so strong to deliver without any pain medication, no one to hold her hand. But they had done it, and the proof was resting in her arms, lazily nursing so perfectly they couldn’t have scripted it better themselves.

“We made him, Nick,” Sabrina shook her head in disbelief. “Look at him. He’s perfect.”

“Both of you are,” Nick kissed her hair and trailed a single finger over his little boy’s cheek as he nursed. “I know you want to rest, but all of us need to get cleaned up. We do that and the three of us can relax together.”

Sabrina only nodded, her attention on the baby.

Later, Nick and Sabrina lounged in their bed, the baby in Nick’s arms as Sabrina leaned on his shoulder. He had made a big deal out of getting to hold the newborn for a while, telling Sabrina, jokingly, that she was hogging him. She had all but clutched the baby to her while Nick cleaned up and then insisted he take a shower first. She didn’t think he had ever showered that quickly. He had had to coax her into handing him the baby so she could shower, but once she was under the hot water, she felt like a brand new woman. When she walked back into their bedroom, sore, tired, and happy, she found their room sparkling clean, any sign of the birth that had taken place gone, except Nick was holding their baby, a baby he had cleaned up, dressed in a soft sleeper, and expertly swaddled.

“You were incredible today, Nick,” she told him as they snuggled together, now a family of three. “I don’t know how you did it.”

“You did the hard work,” he pointed out.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Sabrina insisted. “I was terrified, Nick.”

“So was I,” he confessed. “I was willing to take you to the hospital and do all the magic I needed to do to cover up our true identity if I had to.”

“You didn’t seem scared,” she told him. “You were so in control.”

“I’m glad it looked that way,” he shook his head. “I was trying to be strong for you, but I was freaking out.” He adjusted the baby slightly. “The part that made me panic the most? When he was out, and I needed to cut the umbilical cord. Trying to tie it off, hold him, cut… I needed at least two more hands than I had, but somehow, it worked out.”

“You were incredible,” she said again. She smiled. “I bet you didn’t think you’d ever be delivering your own kid.”

“All of my daydreams about his birth involved me holding your hand while Zelda did all the midwife stuff,” he confessed. “But he’s here and he’s healthy. That’s all that matters.” He kissed the top of her head. “You were pretty amazing yourself, Spellman. You did all of that without any sort of pain medication.”

“I went somewhere else in my head,” she shared. “Some place I’ve never been before. I knew it was on me to deliver him and I just – did it.”

“You’re a mom,” Nick said. “Finding superhuman strength… That’s what moms do, isn’t it?”

“It looks like it’s the same for dads,” she pointed out. She reached out her hand and lightly brushed it over the baby’s bundled body. “We’re going to have quite the story to tell him.”

“He was worth all of it,” Nick determined. “Every last moment.”

An urgent knock at the door to their quarters filtered through the house.

“That’ll be the aunts,” Sabrina guessed. “A few hours too late.”

“And in for quite the surprise,” Nick agreed. He carefully passed the baby back to Sabrina. “Shall I let them in?”

“Go ahead,” she nodded. “But let’s not let them stay too long. To say it’s been a long day would be an understatement and I’d like to go to sleep soon – for as long as this little one will let me.”

“It’s a plan,” Nick agreed. He crossed the room to leave, but paused in the doorframe, even as the aunts beat on the door again. He heard Ambrose call their names. He looked back and took in the sight of Sabrina cradling their little boy and he didn’t know it was possible to be so happy.

“Go, Scratch,” Sabrina said with a smile as she caught him watching them. “Before they break down the door and we have one more thing to do before we can sleep.”

Nick chuckled and went to the door. He swung it open to reveal a frantic Hilda, a Zelda that looked like no one should cross her in the moment, and an Ambrose who looked thoroughly put through the ringer.

“We only just got your message,” Hilda breathed. “What’s wrong? Where’s Sabrina?”

“Everything is okay,” Nick told them. He stepped aside to let them in. “Sabrina is fine.”

“Then why on earth did you send an urgent message?” Zelda was annoyed now.

“You better have a good reason, Scratch,” Ambrose echoed. “I was the one who had to deal with these two all riled up.” Hilda elbowed him. “Ow!”

“Follow me,” Nick said, hardly able to contain his excitement. “Sabrina’s in the bedroom.” He led them through the door, then stepped aside to watch.

For a moment, all three Spellmans stood there, Hilda and Zelda side-by-side, Ambrose peering between their shoulders. They all looked shocked.

“Is that…” Hilda began.

“But…” Zelda spurted.

“Hold on…” Ambrose scrunched his face up he tried to decipher the scene in front of him.

“Aunties, Ambrose,” Sabrina began. She angled the baby so they could see him better. “I’d like you to meet Nick and I’s son.” She beamed. “Nicholas Henry Scratch. We’ll call him Henry.”

Nick’s eyes watered. They had spent days disagreeing over a girl’s name, but Sabrina had only ever suggested ‘Nicholas Henry’ for a boy, and he knew it was the right name for his first son, whether it would be this pregnancy or another one.

“Oh my…” Hilda covered her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.

“Sabrina…” Zelda breathed, her hand on her chest.

“You have a baby,” Ambrose stated with a slack jaw.

“Come see,” Sabrina encouraged. “He’s perfect.”

“But you weren’t due for another two months,” Zelda said as she and Hilda approached.

“It looks like eleven months is a full-term pregnancy for a someone of dual nature,” Nick said. “I could tell on the ultrasounds that she was measuring a little ahead of where a witch would be, but I didn’t say anything in case I was wrong. Turns out, that theory was correct.”

“Oh he is beautiful,” Hilda breathed as she took in the tiny little boy in her niece’s arms. “Sabrina, Nicholas… He is just perfect.”

“He is quite the looker,” Zelda agreed.

“He looks just like Scratch,” Ambrose determined.

“He really does,” Hilda agreed.

“Want to hold him?” Sabrina asked.

“I’d jump on that offer,” Nick spoke up. “She’s been hogging the baby all evening.” Sabrina gave him a look that was as full of love as it was sass.

“Give him here,” Zelda extended her arms and Sabrina transferred Henry to her aunt. It felt right that Zelda would be the first one to hold him aside from her and Nick. “Hello there, little one.”

“Would you look at that,” Ambrose said. He had perched on the edge of the bed. “Zelda has a heart.”

“You’re lucky I’m holding this baby,” Zelda warned while everyone else laughed. “Nicholas, did you deliver him all by yourself?”

“Sabrina did the hard work,” he said.

“I couldn’t have done it without Nick,” Sabrina shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to do it again without pain medicine, however.”

“Labor was quick then,” Hilda said.

“Define quick,” Sabrina snipped. “But I think I may have been in labor for a while. I had back pains last night…”

“You didn’t say anything,” Nick spoke up.

“I figured it was Braxton-Hicks or whatever,” Sabrina shrugged. “They got worse this afternoon and by the time Nick got home, I was clinging to the kitchen counter to remain upright. My water broke soon after.”

“Things progressed pretty quick after that,” Nick added. “It was a little difficult with just two hands, but Henry is here and healthy.”

“Has he nursed yet?” Zelda wondered, her mid-wife hat slipping on.

“As soon as he was born,” Sabrina nodded. “And twice since then. He’s a pro.”

“He’s needed a diaper change as well,” Nick reported.

“Look at the pair of you,” Ambrose observed. “You’re parents, reporting on meals and dirty diapers.”

“You feel okay?” Hilda questioned Sabrina.

“I feel pretty good,” Sabrina nodded. “I’m tired and sore, but Nick took really good care of me.” She beamed at him. He winked back.

“You two will have another of these on the way within months,” Ambrose predicted.

“You’re lucky I just had a baby and fighting with you feels like more trouble than it’s worth,” Sabrina informed him. Ambrose chuckled.

“He is just so handsome,” Zelda said, completely taken by the infant in her arms. “All that hair. He’s going to be a heartbreaker.”

“I knew he would have hair,” Hilda said proudly. “Sabrina’s heartburn was terrible.” She held out her arms. “Give him here, Zelda. You’ve held him long enough.” Zelda passed the baby to Hilda. “Oh look at you!” Hilda cooed. “You really are a handsome little boy, just like your Papa.” Nick’s blush made Sabrina smirk. “Auntie Hilda is going to make you a birthday cake. Yes, she is. You’re too little to eat it now of course, but this is a reason to celebrate.”

“And just like that, you and I are no longer the most important people in their lives,” Ambrose told Sabrina. “Your kid has dethroned us.”

“The kid belongs to me,” Sabrina pointed out. “So I’m still higher on the list than you are.”

“I gotta have a kid,” Ambrose half joked. He got off the bed and went to stand by Nick. “Not sticking around Greendale, hey?” Nick grinned as Ambrose reminded him of how he had insisted the day he returned that he wasn’t sticking around.

“Where’s Prudence?” Nick wondered.

“She stayed back to close up the summit,” Ambrose said. “She should be along in a few hours. I’m not going to tell her about the baby. It’ll be far more fun to send her to your quarters tomorrow and let her see the tyke for herself.”

“I want to hear all about the summit,” Nick said.

“I’ll fill you in,” Ambrose promised. He clapped Nick on the shoulder. “Enjoy your little boy first, though. Congratulations, Nicholas. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of that baby than the pair of you.”

The aunts and Ambrose stuck around a little longer. Ambrose took a turn holding the baby but was quick to hand him off to Nick when he started to fuss. They left without too much of a fight, but Hilda returned a half hour later with a late-night snack and a tea that would help ease some of Sabrina’s post-delivery pains. Nick hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he was biting into a hot biscuit with jam. Neither of them had eaten dinner, too busy bringing a baby into the world.

“I don’t want to put him down,” Sabrina admitted as they prepared to go to bed.

“He will wake us up in a few hours,” Nick assured her. Still, neither of them moved to put the baby in the bassinet Nick had assembled just a few days earlier. He had moved it from the nursery to their bedroom once the aunts left.

“I love him so much, Nick,” Sabrina said. “I had no idea love like this was possible.”

“It’s incredible,” he agreed. He felt it too. He had always loved Sabrina beyond reason, but the little boy in her arms was another kind of love entirely. “We’re parents now, Sabrina.”

“Mom and Papa,” she echoed. “I love how that sounds.” Nick already had his arm around her. He used it to pull her closer to him.

“You know what I’d like in a couple of years?”

“Another one of these?” Sabrina questioned. She had already decided she most certainly wanted more children, no matter how much she didn’t like being pregnant. It was entirely worth it for the feel of a newborn in her arms.

“I’m hopeful we’ll have at least one more of these in a couple of years.” Sabrina smiled. She was hopeful for the same. “I’d like to raise Henry and any siblings that come along outside of the Academy. My childhood was spent outside, with a yard to play in, a house to come home to. Yours was too. I want that for our family – a place of our own.”

“I would love that,” Sabrina said. “The Academy is fine for now, but I don’t want our kids to grow up here. It still feels like we’re in school.”

“We’ll give it some time,” Nick decided. “Adjust to being parents while we’ve got your aunts around to help us. When we’re ready, we’ll know.” He kissed her hair. “What do you think, Henry?” he said to the baby. “Time for bed?”

Henry was sound asleep.

“He’s been fed and changed, so it’s probably best we put him in the bassinette now,” Sabrina replied.

“We need to try to get a few hours of sleep ourselves,” Nick agreed, climbing out of bed to transfer him. Sabrina kissed Henry’s cheek and whispered a goodnight to him before she passed him off to Nick. “Come on, little guy.” He held him carefully, wondering at the fact that he had any part in creating the tiny little boy. “Time to let Mom and Papa get some sleep, too.” He mimicked Sabrina, kissing the little boy’s cheek before lowering him into the bassinette. He stole a moment to just look at him before he pulled himself away and turned back to the bed. “Need anything before I get into bed?”

“I’m good.” Sabrina looked past him at the bassinette. “He’s going to be okay, right?”

“He’s going to be fine in his bassinette,” Nick confirmed as he joined her in bed.

“Shouldn’t his bassinette be on my side of the bed?” Sabrina continued. “I’ll be the one feeding him…”

“You just gave birth,” Nick reminded her. “He’s on my side of the bed so I can pick him up and give him to you. Your body needs to heal. I’m here to be a dad and a husband and keep you from doing too much.” Sabrina’s eyes watered. “Hey, don’t do that,” Nick brushed a stray tear away.

“It’s just that I love you so much,” Sabrina admitted as her hormones took over. “You, our baby…” She shook her head in disbelief. “I spent all of those years longing for this moment. A husband who adores me, a baby to love… It’s happening right here in front of me and it’s more than I ever imagined it to be.”

“You’re worried it’s too good to be true,” Nick realized.

“I do have a track record of things going very wrong,” she reminded him.

“Not this,” Nick shook his head. “Me, you, Henry? All of this is as real as real can be, and absolutely nothing is going to change that.” He slid under the blankets and indicated that Sabrina should do the same. She did so after one last look at the bassinette. “You are loved, Sabrina.” He reached out and brushed her hair back. “You have me and we have our baby. You can rest easy in that.”

“I love you, Nick,” Sabrina replied. Nick leaned in and kissed her.

“I love you, Spellman.”

They got comfortable. Nick wanted to pull her into him, but he was aware that she was sore, so he laid close, her on her back, him on his side, sharing a pillow.

“Let’s call Henry’s parents tomorrow,” she proposed. “I want to tell them about our Henry.”

“I think they would love that,” Nick agreed. “They’re a little more up on technology. We could do a video call, introduce him that way.”

“I know you’ve probably thought about Henry today,” Sabrina ventured.

“I have,” Nick admitted. “In a ‘I wish I could call him and tell him about our baby’ kind of way.”

“He would have been the best uncle,” Sabrina said with certainty.

“He would have,” Nick nodded. He smiled sadly. “It’s almost like he knew we would have this – a marriage, a family. He died to protect that.”

“He loved you,” Sabrina said. “I am so grateful for that.”

“I loved him the best I could,” Nick replied. Sometimes, he would think of Henry and feel immensely guilty. Guilty that the warlock not only gave up his life for him a year ago, but that he had never been able to fully give Henry his heart. He knew Henry understood, but that didn’t make it easier. “I’m not going to let down his memory.”

“You’re the best husband, Nick,” Sabrina said in a tone full of love, emotion, and sincerity. “You’re already the best Papa, too.”

“Thank you for giving me the chance to be a husband and a Papa,” he told her. “This, right now, me, you, our little boy, really is all I have ever wanted.”

Nick draped his arm over her stomach and kissed her soundly.

“I love you, Sabrina.”

“I love you, Nick.”

She lifted her head to kiss him once more.

“Let’s try to get some sleep,” Nick proposed. He pitched them into darkness and felt Sabrina slide closer. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was five minutes or three hours, but a wail woke him up.

“Hmm,” Sabrina hummed, already sitting up. “Henry…”

“I’ve got him,” Nick tossed the blanket back. He got out of bed and scooped up the upset infant. “Hey, buddy,” he cooed. “Already into making sure Mom and Papa don’t get much sleep?”

“He’s probably hungry,” Sabrina guessed. “It’s been a few hours.”

“You just want your mom,” Nick told the boy. “I get it. I’d choose her too.” He passed the baby to Sabrina and got back into bed to wait for Henry to feed. “It’s going okay?” he asked after a few minutes of peaceful quiet.

“Yeah,” Sabrina nodded. She was so tired, but still so happy. “I was worried feeding would be hard, but he’s making it easy.”

“You know, we missed a golden opportunity earlier,” Nick mused.

“Oh?” Sabrina questioned. She glanced at him and had to smile. He looked as tired as she felt, his hair tousled, his chest bare, his features relaxed and happy. She thanked her lucky stars he was hers.

“When Ambrose was holding Henry and he started to cry? We could have totally blamed that on Ambrose, told him the baby didn’t like him.”

Sabrina snorted. “That would have been mean.”

“Funny though,” Nick said. “Next time.”

They fell back into their peaceful quiet. Sabrina finished feeding the baby and burped him before she gave him to Nick to change and put back into his bassinette. Sabrina was already asleep when he got back into bed. He kissed her forehead softly.

“I love you, Spellman,” he said softly. “Always have, always will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end. A happy ending. Maybe my favorite happy ending I've written in this world. Thank you for coming along for the ride. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it. ❤️ Let me know your thoughts on this final chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Harvey is dead. Nick is back for the first time in 50 years. Zelda has been plotting. And Sabrina... Well, we'll get a lot of her next update. 
> 
> I really hope you'll come along on this ride with me. I really love this one. <3 
> 
> Thoughts on the first update? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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